Selina Tusitala Marsh leaves a new generation of Tuvalu storytellers with voices to share

Professor Selina Tusitala Marsh's first visit to her grandfather's homeland has left more than memories of Tuvalu's coral shores.

The Pacific poet and writer spent eight days in Tuvalu working with students, teachers, aspiring writers and community leaders to help them put their own stories into words.

Marsh visited Funafuti in August as Commonwealth Poet Laureate and a guest of Tuvalu's first national Cultural Festival.

Severe weather forced the main festival to be postponed but Marsh stayed and turned the week into a series of creative writing workshops.

At Fetuvalu Secondary School, she worked with 30 students and adults on writing exercises based on their own experiences.

At Nauti Primary School, 80 children designed their own tokotoko, or carved orator's staff, after hearing Marsh read from her children's book Mophead.

Professor Selina Tusitala Marsh during her first visit to Funafuti, where she spent eight days working with students, teachers, aspiring writers and community leaders. Photo/Supplied

One 11-year-old wrote about the coconut tree as "the only tree that grew in the past and still grows in Tuvalu". The student also described it as "the standing ground of Tuvalu by sea level rise".

The University of Auckland/Waipapa Taumata Rau says the children's work showed both their creativity and their awareness of the challenges facing their country.

Marsh also met members of the Tuvalu National Council of Women and heard stories that had not yet been written down.

Professor Selina Tusitala Marsh meets a young writer at Nauti Primary School where 80 children took part in a creative writing and storytelling session. Photo/Supplied

Reid Fuemana-Elisaia O'Brien, of Manusiki Kaaiga and the Tāmaki Paenga Hira Pacific Advisory Group, says the threat to Tuvalu's physical land has made preserving its cultural inheritance more urgent..

“The Tuvaluan language is more than words. It is our inheritance. It is the bridge between generations and things that cannot be translated into English...

"In a world where small nations can easily be forgotten, our language and culture is the light that keeps Tuvalu seen, heard, and alive."

O'Brien says there is an added urgency to preserving the Tuvaluan language, culture and stories as climate change threatens the country's physical land and way of life.

Reid Fuemana-Elisaia O’Brien of Manusiki Kaaiga and the Tāmaki Paenga Hira Pacific Advisory Group says preserving Tuvaluan language and culture is increasingly urgent as climate change threatens the country’s physical land and way of life. Photo/LinkedIn

““Climate change threatens our physical land and way of life. I feel an urgency to act and find ways to preserve my rich culture, stories, and language - not only for my children but for generations to come.”

She has identified two emerging writers she believes could enter the Commonwealth Short Story Prize and has offered to mentor them over the next year.

Marsh says the visit was also a deeply personal one. She is the granddaughter of Vailei Tusitala whose family roots are in Niutao and Funafuti.

"I am the proud granddaughter of Vailei Tusitala from Niutao and Funafuti in Tuvalu. It is from him that I got my family name and legacy of Tusitala, storyteller," Marsh says.

Professor Selina Tusitala Marsh works with members of the Tuvalu National Council of Women, hearing stories and experiences that she says are still waiting to be written. Photo/Supplied

The visit came as Tuvalu prepares to mark Vaiaso o te 'Gana Tuvalu - Tuvalu Language Week, which opened on Sunday across Aotearoa.

This year's theme is about cherishing Tuvalu's foundations and carrying identity through life's journey: "Tuvalu, alofa ki tou fakavae, kae teugina tou iloga i tau kete fai malaga".

Marsh says seeing Funafuti from the air brought home the reality facing the island nation.

"You grasp the stakes before you land," she said. "A coral atoll a few metres above a rising sea, holding a nation."

Tuvalu youth are celebrating their language, culture and identity during Vaiaso o te 'Gana Tuvalu - Tuvalu Language Week0. Photo/Ministry for Pacific Peoples (MPP)

But the workshops also showed her the strength of the stories already being carried by Tuvalu's young people.

Marsh is the first Pacific person to earn a PhD in English from the University of Auckland and has spent much of her career creating space for Pacific literature and storytelling.

Her work includes Fast Talking PI, Tightrope and the Mophead children's books.

The University of Auckland says she covered her own airfares and accommodation through university research funding while a Commonwealth Foundation grant paid for workshop materials.

Young Tuvaluans in Aotearoa come together to celebrate their language and pass cultural knowledge on to the next generation. Photo/MPP

Marsh says the work is part of a wider commitment to making sure Pacific stories are told by Pacific people.

"As the inaugural Commonwealth Poet Laureate, I am, in a sense, drawing the map as I walk it," she wrote. "Tuvalu warranted it."

Across Aotearoa, Tuvalu communities are marking Vaiaso o te 'Gana Tuvalu - Tuvalu Language Week with language and cultural activities, including church and cultural programmes in Dunedin and Christchurch, student programmes, a flag-raising in Porirua, and events marking Tuvalu Independence Day on 1 October.

Christchurch is also hosting hands-on activities including Tuvalu-inspired paper fan workshops at Spreydon and Bishopdale libraries while Dunedin will host programmes for students, men and women throughout the week.

Young Tuvaluans celebrate their heritage through language, culture and community during Vaiaso o te 'Gana Tuvalu. Photo/MPP

The University of Auckland says the story of Marsh's visit is being shared as part of Vaiaso o te 'Gana Tuvalu - Tuvalu Language Week.

The week will also coincide with Tuvalu's Independence Day on 1 October when the island nation marks its independence from the United Kingdom in 1978.

For more details on the weeklong celebrations, click here.

Source: Auckland University, Ministry for Pacific Peoples, Auckland Museum, Christchurch City Libraries.

Watch student Faulufalega Epu share his jourey in studing the ocean below.