Albert Wendt facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Albert Wendt ONZ CNZM
Wendt in 2013
Born	(1939-10-27) 27 October 1939 (age 85) Apia, Samoa
Nationality	Samoan
Education	New Plymouth Boys' High School
Alma mater	Victoria University
Occupation	Author academic
Notable work	Sons for the Return Home (1973) Leaves of the Banyan Tree (1979)
Partner(s)	Reina Whaitiri
Awards	Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement (2012) Icon Award (2018)
Scientific career
Institutions	The University of Auckland, University of the South Pacific

Albert Tuaopepe Wendt is a famous Samoan poet and writer. He was born on October 27, 1939, and now lives in New Zealand. He is known as one of the most important writers in the Oceania region.

Some of his well-known books include Sons for the Return Home, published in 1973. This book was even made into a movie in 1979. Another important work is Leaves of the Banyan Tree, which came out in 1979.

Besides writing, Albert Wendt has also been a university professor. He taught at universities in Samoa, Fiji, Hawaii, and New Zealand. From 1988 to 2008, he was a professor of New Zealand literature at the University of Auckland.

Wendt has received many special awards for his writing. These include the Commonwealth Writers Prize (twice!) and top awards at the New Zealand Book Awards. In 2012, he won the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement for fiction. In 2018, he received an Icon Award from the Arts Foundation of New Zealand. In 2013, he was given the Order of New Zealand, which is New Zealand's highest award for civilians. This award recognized his big role in creating Pacific literature in English.

Early Life and Education

Albert Wendt was born in Apia, Western Samoa (now called Samoa) in 1939. He grew up in Samoa as one of nine children. His father worked as a plumber. Even though he has some German family history, he considers his heritage to be "totally Samoan."

In 1952, Albert Wendt received a scholarship. This allowed him to attend New Plymouth Boys' High School in New Zealand. He finished school there in 1957. While at school, he had some of his poems and a short story published. These appeared in the school's yearly magazine, The Taranakian.

After high school, he studied at Ardmore Teachers' College. He earned a teaching diploma in 1959. Then, he went to Victoria University of Wellington. He graduated in 1964 with a Master of Arts degree in History. His master's project was about the Mau movement. This was Samoa's independence movement against colonialism in the early 1900s.

While at Victoria University, he started publishing his writing. His works appeared in magazines like the New Zealand School Journal and the New Zealand Listener. In 1963, he won an award for his short story "The Name of the Game." He has said that other Polynesian writers like Alistair Te Ariki Campbell inspired him when he began writing.

Writing Career

Time in the Pacific Islands: 1965–1987

In 1965, Albert Wendt went back to Samoa. He became the headmaster of Samoa College. He kept sending his poems and short stories to New Zealand for publication. In 1972, he wrote two plays. These were Comes the Revolution and The Contract.

Around this time, he started working on a long novel called Leaves of the Banyan Tree. Because it was so long, he put it aside for a bit. He first finished another novel, Sons for the Return Home, which was published in 1973. This book tells the story of a young Samoan man's experiences in New Zealand. In 1979, it was made into a movie. This was the first film to focus on the lives of Pacific people in New Zealand.

In 1974, Wendt became a senior lecturer at the University of the South Pacific. He worked in Suva and at the university's Samoan center. There, he wrote many articles for the Mana literary journal. He also edited collections of poems from Fiji, Samoa, and other Pacific Islands.

In 1974, he published a collection of short stories called Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree. These stories were like modern fables. Two stories from this collection were later made into a movie in 1989. His first poetry book, Inside Us the Dead: Poems 1961 to 1974, came out in 1976. A shorter novel, Pouliuli (which means "darkness"), was published in 1977.

Wendt's big family story, Leaves of the Banyan Tree (1979), won a top award in 1980. In 1980, he edited Lali, a collection of Pacific writing. From 1982 to 1987, he was a professor of Pacific literature at the University of the South Pacific. He also held a high leadership position at the university.

Later Career in New Zealand: 1988–Present

In 1988, Albert Wendt became the first professor of New Zealand literature at the University of Auckland. He was also the first Pacific Islander to be an English professor there. In his later career, he edited important collections of Pacific writing. These include Nuanua (1995) and Whetu Moana: Contemporary Polynesian Poems in English (2003). He worked on Whetu Moana with Reina Whaitiri and Robert Sullivan. This book won an award in 2004. It was also the first collection of modern Polynesian poetry in English to have Polynesian editors. Its follow-up, Mauri Ola, was a finalist for an award in 2011.

Wendt's later works include poetry books like Shaman of Visions (1984) and Photographs (1995). His short story collection In The Birth and Death of the Miracle Man (1986) also features stories set in Samoa. His novel Ola (1991) is about a female character traveling the world. It explores ideas of faith and identity. This book won an award in 1992. Black Rainbow (1992) is a "thriller" set in a future New Zealand. In 1994, he received an award from Samoa for his work in education and literature.

In 1999, he was a visiting professor at the University of Hawaiʻi. In 2001, he received another award for his services to literature. He won the Senior Pacific Islands Artist's Award in 2003. His first play, The Songmaker's Chair, was performed that same year. In 2004, he won the Nikkei Asia Prize for Culture. Victoria University gave him an honorary degree in 2005. He also held a special position at the University of Hawaiʻi from 2004 to 2008.

He retired from his university job in 2008. In 2009, his novel The Adventures of Vela was published. He had started writing it in the 1970s. He won another Commonwealth Writers Prize for this book. In the same year, he received an honorary degree from the University of Hawaiʻi. In 2012, he was given the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement for Fiction. In 2013, he was appointed a member of the Order of New Zealand, which is New Zealand's highest civilian honor.

In 2015, he became a patron of the New Zealand Book Council. Later that year, he published a memoir called Out of the Vaipe, the Deadwater. This book is about his early life in Apia. He also published a novel, Breaking Connections, about a group of friends in Auckland. In 2018, he was recognized as one of New Zealand's greatest living artists. He received an Icon Award for this. His poetry was also part of UPU, a show featuring Pacific Island writers.

Legacy and Influence

Albert Wendt has been a leader in postcolonial literature throughout his career. His books have been published all over the world. They have been translated into many languages, including French, Chinese, German, and Japanese.

A study of his work was published in 2003 by Paul Sherrad. It was called Albert Wendt and Pacific Literature: Circling the Void. New Zealand scholar Lydia Wevers said that Wendt's works have been very important. They have helped shape Pacific literature in English, especially as it changed from spoken stories to written ones.

Writers Teresia Teaiwa and Selina Tusitala Marsh wrote about Wendt's impact in 2010. They said that while other writers have also created important works, Wendt is a truly special figure in the Pacific region.

A documentary film about him, called The New Oceania, was made in New Zealand. It was directed by Shirley Horrocks. The film was shown at film festivals in 2005 and on TV in New Zealand and Australia in 2006 and 2007.

Personal Life

When he was a young teacher, Albert Wendt married Jenny Whyte. They had two daughters and a son. One of his daughters, Mele Wendt, received an award in 2019 for her work in governance.

Since his marriage ended in the early 1990s, Wendt has been in a relationship with his partner, Reina Whaitiri. He is also a cousin of actor Nathaniel Lees. Nathaniel Lees directed and starred in Wendt's play The Songmaker's Chair in 2003. His niece, Lani Wendt Young, is also a writer.

Awards and Honours

• 1980 – Wattie Book of the Year for Leaves of the Banyan Tree
• 1992 – Commonwealth Writers Prize in the Asia-Pacific Region for Ola
• 1994 – Order of Merit of Samoa for services to education and literature
• 2001 – Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to literature
• 2003 – Senior Pacific Arts Award, Arts Pasifika Awards
• 2004 – Nikkei Asia Prize for Culture
• 2004 – Montana Book Award for Whetu Moana
• 2010 – Commonwealth Writers Prize in the Asia-Pacific Region for The Adventures of Vela
• 2012 – Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement in Fiction
• 2013 – Order of New Zealand
• 2018 – Icon Award from the New Zealand Arts Foundation

Selected Works

Novels, Short Story Collections, and Memoirs

• Sons for the Return Home (1973)
• Flying Fox in a Freedom Tree: And Other Stories (1974)
• Pouliuli (1977)
• Leaves of the Banyan Tree (1979)
• The Birth and Death of the Miracle Man (1986)
• Ola (1991)
• Black Rainbow (1992)
• The Best of Albert Wendt's Short Stories (1999)
• The Mango's Kiss: a Novel (2003)
• The Adventures of Vela (2009)
• Ancestry (2012)
• Breaking Connections (2015)
• Out of the Vaipe, The Deadwater: A Writer's Early Life (2015)

Poetry Collections

• Inside Us the Dead. Poems 1961 to 1974 (1976)
• Shaman of Visions (1984)
• Photographs (1995)
• The Book of the Black Star (2002)
• From Mānoa to a Ponsonby Garden (2012)

Plays

• Comes the Revolution (1972)
• The Contract (1972)
• The Songmaker's Chair (2004)

Anthologies and Other Edited Works

• Lali: A Pacific Anthology (1980)
• 100 Lovers of Taamaki Makaurau, edited by Wendt and Witi Ihimaera (1994)
• Nuanua: Pacific Writing in English since 1980 (1995)

See also

In Spanish: Albert Wendt para niños