Books in English by writers from Kiribati are hard to find, so these two are wider picks: books by long-time residents, outsiders who know the place well, folk tales and history with a strong feel for Kiribati.
Kiribati's stories, genealogies and myths were long passed on by word of mouth, and few books by writers from Kiribati are available in English. Most of what reaches English readers comes from outsiders who worked in the islands, or from writers of I-Kiribati (islander) descent. Arthur Grimble, a colonial officer, set down elders' myths and genealogies, later collected in Tungaru Traditions Phosphate mining on Banaba, colonial rule and the 1943 battle of Tarawa recur in the writing.
Grimble's own A Pattern of Islands, an affectionate memoir of his years in the Gilberts from 1914, is the place to start. Katerina Martina Teaiwa's Consuming Ocean Island draws on oral histories to trace phosphate mining on Banaba and the Banabans' displacement to Rabi. Teresia Teaiwa's poems in Searching for Nei Nim'anoa draw on I-Kiribati heritage and Pacific diaspora identity. Robert Sherrod's Tarawa is an American correspondent's eyewitness account of the battle.
By long-time residents and outsiders who know the place well, or folk tales, poetry and history with a strong feel for Kiribati.
“Find a copy” goes to Bookshop.org. If you buy, we earn a small commission and independent bookshops get a share too.
A colonial officer's warm memoir of the Gilbert Islands in the early 1900s, covering island customs, dances, and daily life.
Poems drawing on I-Kiribati heritage, and on Banaba and Pacific diaspora identity, by a poet of I-Kiribati descent.
Australia Fiji Marshall Islands Micronesia New Zealand Palau Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu