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The Crocodile
Vincent Eri
Novel, 1970
The first PNG novel in English follows a Papuan villager through late colonial Papua, showing village life, Australian rule and the stirrings of independence.
Books set in Papua New Guinea
Four books by writers from Papua New Guinea, set there, that give a real sense of the place, starting with The Crocodile and Kiki: Ten Thousand Years in a Lifetime.
About the literature of Papua New Guinea
Vincent Eri's The Crocodile is the first novel in English by a Papua New Guinean writer, a story of village life under Australian rule. The country has more than eight hundred languages, and its stories were told aloud long before missions and colonial schools introduced writing. English, Tok Pisin (an English-based common language) and Hiri Motu are among its official languages. Memoirs by leaders of the movement leading to independence in 1975 form a notable strand.
The Crocodile traces a Papuan villager through late colonial Papua. Albert Maori Kiki's Kiki: Ten Thousand Years in a Lifetime tells of a Gulf village childhood and the founding of the independence movement. Michael Somare, the first prime minister, describes his Sepik upbringing in Sana: An Autobiography of Michael Somare. Paulias Matane's My Childhood in New Guinea recalls village life in East New Britain before and during the Second World War.
By writers from Papua New Guinea
Kiki: Ten Thousand Years in a Lifetime
Albert Maori Kiki
Memoir, 1968
A Papuan political pioneer's memoir of growing up in a Gulf village, working under colonial rule and helping found the independence movement.
Sana: An Autobiography of Michael Somare
Michael Somare
Memoir, 1975
The first prime minister describes his Sepik upbringing and his path to independence in 1975.
My Childhood in New Guinea
Paulias Matane
Memoir, 1972
A memoir of traditional village childhood in East New Britain before and during the Second World War, and the start of mission schooling.
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