Emelihter Kihleng

Last updated
Emelihter S. Kihleng
Born Guam
OccupationPoet, academic
Language Pohnpeian, English
Alma mater University Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, B.A., M.A.,
Victoria University of Wellington, PhD
Genre Postcolonialism, poetry, ethnography
Notable worksMy Urohs

Emelihter Kihleng is a Micronesian (and more specifically Pohnpeian) poet. She is the first ever Micronesian to publish a collection of poetry in the English language, [1] and is one of few published Micronesian poets.

Contents

Biography

Born in Guam, she obtained a master's degree in creative writing at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 2003, and subsequently taught English as a second language at the College of Micronesia in Pohnpei. She later received a PhD in Pacific studies from the Victoria University of Wellington in 2015. [2] Her PhD Thesis was titled "Menginpehn Lien Pohnpei: a poetic ethnography of urohs (Pohnpeian skirts)", and was supervised by Teresia Teaiwa and Brian Diettrich. [3]

In May 2008, she published her first collection of poems, My Urohs. [4] Samoan writer Albert Wendt described her poetry as "refreshingly innovative and compelling, a new way of seeing ourselves in our islands, an important and influential addition to our literature" – meaning Pacific Islander literature. [5] I-Kiribati poet Teresia Teaiwa described it as "ethnographic poetry", "lush with the languages and imagery of Pohnpei and Micronesia", "an exciting new contribution to Pacific literature". Samoan writer Sia Figiel described her poetry as "disturbing and haunting, illuminating and tender", "woven from the violent threads of postcolonialism, laced with patches of Island humour", "a powerful addition to Pacific Literature". American poet Mark Nowak also praised her work. [6]

Kihleng explained that the urohs is "the quintessential dress of a Pohnpeian woman as a symbol of Pohnpeian women and Pohnpeian culture. I chose to title the collection My Urohs [...] because [...] the essence of the collection as a whole [is] colorful, tragic, beautiful, colonized and indigenous all at the same time". [1]

In February 2009, Kihleng and University of Guam professor of English Dr. Evelyn Flores announced their intention to publish the first ever anthology of Micronesian literature, calling for contributions from writers from Guam, Palau, the Northern Mariana Islands, Nauru, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia. [7] Kihleng noted that, while Polynesia and Melanesia had made a notable impact on Pacific literature, Micronesia still appeared to be "invisible". [8]

According to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, "[m]uch of her work is about Pohnpeian identity and diaspora". [9] The Office of Insular Affairs, a branch of the United States government's Department of the Interior, describes her as "one of the most gifted young writers in the Pacific". [1]

As of 2008, Kihleng lives in Guam, and, according to the United States government, is "working at the University of Guam's Violence Against Women Prevention Program". [1]

Published works

Edited

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federated States of Micronesia</span> Country in Oceania

The Federated States of Micronesia, or simply Micronesia, is an island country in Micronesia, a subregion of Oceania. The federation consists of four states—from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae—that are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states comprise around 607 islands that cover a longitudinal distance of almost 2,700 km (1,700 mi) just north of the equator. They lie northeast of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, south of Guam and the Marianas, west of Nauru and the Marshall Islands, east of Palau and the Philippines, about 2,900 km (1,800 mi) north of eastern Australia, 3,400 km (2,100 mi) southeast of Japan, and some 4,000 km (2,485 mi) southwest of the main islands of the Hawaiian Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Federated States of Micronesia</span> Historical development of the Federated States of Micronesia

The Federated States of Micronesia are located on the Caroline Islands in the western Pacific Ocean. The history of the modern Federated States of Micronesia is one of settlement by Micronesians; colonization by Spain, Germany, and Japan; United Nations trusteeship under United States-administered Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands; and gradual independence beginning with the ratification of a sovereign constitution in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pohnpei</span> Island in Micronesia

Pohnpei is an island of the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group. It belongs to Pohnpei State, one of the four states in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Major population centers on Pohnpei include Palikir, the FSM's capital, and Kolonia, the capital of Pohnpei State. Pohnpei is the largest island in the FSM, with an area of 334 km2 (129 sq mi), and a highest point of 782 m (2,566 ft), the most populous with 36,832 people, and the most developed single island in the FSM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Islands</span> Archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean, part of Micronesia and Palau

The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the central and eastern parts of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end. Historically, this area was also called Nuevas Filipinas or New Philippines, because they were part of the Spanish East Indies and were governed from Manila in the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Islander</span> Person from the Pacific Islands

Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Oceania or any other island located in the Pacific Ocean.

The Micronesians or Micronesian peoples are various closely related ethnic groups native to Micronesia, a region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They are a part of the Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, which has an Urheimat in Taiwan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Senyavin Islands</span>

The Senyavin Islands belong to Pohnpei State in the Federated States of Micronesia. They consist of a larger volcanic Pohnpei Island and two small atolls Ant and Pakin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saudeleur dynasty</span> First organized government uniting the people of Pohnpei island

The Saudeleur dynasty was the first organized government uniting the people of Pohnpei island, ruling from c. 1100-1200 CE to c. 1628 CE. The era was preceded by the Mwehin Kawa or Mwehin Aramas, and followed by Mwehin Nahnmwarki. The name Deleur was an ancient name for Pohnpei, today a state containing the capital of the Federated States of Micronesia.

Micronesian mythology comprises the traditional belief systems of the people of Micronesia. There is no single belief system in the islands of Micronesia, as each island region has its own mythological beings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sia Figiel</span> Samoan novelist, poet and painter

Papalii Sia Figiel is an American contemporary Samoan novelist, poet, and painter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Wendt</span> Samoan poet and writer

Albert Tuaopepe Wendt is a Samoan poet and writer who lives in New Zealand. He is one of the most influential writers in Oceania. His notable works include Sons for the Return Home, published in 1973, and Leaves of the Banyan Tree, published in 1979. As an academic he has taught at universities in Samoa, Fiji, Hawaii and New Zealand, and from 1988 to 2008 was the professor of New Zealand literature at the University of Auckland.

Micronesian Americans are Americans who are descended from people of the Federated States of Micronesia. According to the 2020 US Census, a total of 21,596 residents self-identified as having origins in the country, which consists of four states. More than half of these residents identified their origin as Chuuk State (12,464) with the rest as follows: 4,918 people from Pohnpei, 2,066 from Yap, and 2,148 people from Kosrae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teresia Teaiwa</span> American poet (1968–2017)

Teresia Kieuea Teaiwa was an I-Kiribati and African-American scholar, poet, activist and mentor. Teaiwa was well-regarded for her ground-breaking work in Pacific Studies. Her research interests in this area embraced her artistic and political nature, and included contemporary issues in Fiji, feminism and women's activism in the Pacific, contemporary Pacific culture and arts, and pedagogy in Pacific Studies. An "anti-nuclear activist, defender of West Papuan independence, and a critic of militarism", Teaiwa solidified many connections across the Pacific Ocean and was a hugely influential voice on Pacific affairs Her poetry remains widely published.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mokil Atoll</span> Airport

Mwoakilloa (or Mokil previously named Wellington Island or Duperrey Island, after Louis Isidore Duperrey) is an inhabited atoll in the central Pacific Ocean. Geographically, it belongs to the Caroline Islands and is a municipality of the outlying islands of Pohnpei State of the Federated States of Micronesia.

Isokelekel was a semi-mythical hero warrior and demigod who founded pre-modern Pohnpei sometime in the 1500s to the early 1600s. He invaded the island, ended the oppressive rule of the Saudeleur, and instituted the decentralized chiefdom (nahnmwarki) system that has survived through modern times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craig Santos Perez</span> Chamoru writer and educator

Craig Santos Perez is a poet, essayist, university professor, American publisher (USA) from the Chamorro people, born in Mongmong-Toto-Maite, Guam Island. His poetry has received multiple awards, including the 2023 National Book Award, a 2015 American Book Award and the 2011 PEN Center USA Literary Award for Poetry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lehua Taitano</span> CHamoru poet

Lehua M. Taitano is a Chamoru poet, interdisciplinary artist, and educator. She is an indigenous person of the Mariana Islands, which are referred to as Laguås yan Gani in the Chamoru language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Micronesian Games</span> Regional multisport event

The 9th Micronesian Games were held from July 15 to July 27, 2018, in Yap, Federated States of Micronesia. The venues included the Matson Sports Complex in Abay, and several locations around Colonia.

Brandy Nālani McDougall is a Kānaka Maoli author, poet, educator, literary activist, and associate professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She is the Hawai'i State Poet Laureate for 2023–2025.

Katerina Teaiwa, is a Pacific scholar, artist and teacher of Banaban, I-Kiribati and African American heritage. Teaiwa is well known for her scholarly and artistic work that focuses on the history of British Phosphate Commissioners mining activity in the Pacific during the 1900s and the consequent displacement of Banabans. In 2022, she became the first Indigenous woman from the Pacific to win the Australian University Teacher of the Year award and be promoted to full professor at the Australia National University.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Micronesian Poet Publishes Collection of Poems" Archived 2012-02-29 at the Wayback Machine , Office of Insular Affairs, May 12, 2008
  2. "EMELIHTER KIHLENG, PH.D".
  3. Kihleng, Emelihter (2015). Menginpehn lien Pohnpei: A poetic ethnography of urohs (Pohnpeian skirts) (Doctoral thesis). Open Access Repository Victoria University of Wellington, Victoria University of Wellington. doi: 10.26686/wgtn.17011892 .
  4. Emelihter Kihleng, My Urohs, 2008, Kahuaomanoa Press (Hawaiʻi), ISBN   0-9793788-3-4
  5. "Alumni news" [ permanent dead link ], University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
  6. My Urohs, back cover
  7. "Planned Micronesian anthology calls for submissions" Archived 2012-02-14 at the Wayback Machine , Saipan Tribune, April 30, 2009
  8. "Seeking Micronesian literary writers", Marianas Variety, February 18, 2009
  9. "Local Literary Events Fall 2008", University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
  10. "My Urohs". Goodreads. Retrieved 2023-03-11.