Ancestry

Acclaimed Samoan-born novelist Albert Wendt has been an influential figure in the developments that have shaped New Zealand and Pacific literature since the 1970s, writing numerous works of fiction and several volumes of poetry, and editing notable anthologies of Pacific literature.Albert Wendt was awarded the 1980 Wattie Book of the Year for 'Leaves of the Banyan Tree' and a Montana Book Award for 'Whetu Moana' in 2004. In 1992, Albert Wendt's novel, ‘Ola', won the S-E Asia and Pacific Region of the Commonwealth Book Prize. He is acknowledged internationally as one of Samoa's, New Zealand's, and the Pacific's major novelists and poets. He has been an important influence in the development of the indigenous novel around the world, over the past thirty years. His work has been translated into many languages and is read and taught throughout the world. He has been awarded many honours and won many literary prizes.Two of his books, 'Sons for the Return Home' and 'Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree', have been made into full-length feature films.He was Professor of New Zealand and Pacific Literature at the University of Auckland from 1988 to 2006, and held the Citizens' Chair at the University of Hawaii from 2004 to 2008. He is now Emeritus Professor at the University of Auckland, and is writing and painting full-time.