PHIL FITZPATRICK
Can’t Sleep: Poems, First Impressions, Satire & Essays on Cultural Aspects of Enga Province, Papua New Guinea, Compiled by Daniel Kumbon, Enga Writer’s Association, ISBN: 978-1535133845, US$6.38 plus postage from Amazon Books
THE people of Papua New Guinea have a long traditional history of oral literature.
Like many societies that have always lived close to the earth, there are many natural story tellers and poets among them.
This is especially so in Enga Province in the central highlands where resides the largest cultural group in Papua New Guinea.
It is therefore unfortunate that these natural talents have not been afforded any real chance to flourish in the modern nation state of PNG where publishing and other opportunities are severely limited.
This has not stopped the writers and poets from practising their craft but at best they can only hope for publication in small and often obscure journals and newspapers.
Until recently very few books have been published in the nation.
Daniel Kumbon, himself a published author and journalist, has compiled this current collection from a variety of those sources, past and present, to highlight the sort of material that has come out of his home province.
The collection is mainly aimed at Enga readers and occurs in parallel with the recent revival of the Enga Writer’s Association.
However, the collection should also be of interest to the general reader who wants to learn about Enga and its people and their aspirations.