Konai Helu Thaman

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Konai Helu Thaman
Born1946 (age 77–78)
Nukuʻalofa, Tonga
OccupationPoet and academic
NationalityTongan
Alma materUniversity of Auckland; University of California, Santa Barbara; University of the South Pacific.

Konai Helu Thaman (born 1946) is a poet and academic from Tonga. Thaman is one of the first significant poet and researcher to have emerged from the South Pacific.

Early Life and Education[edit]

Thaman was born in 1946 in the city of Nuku'alofa, Tonga. She attended Free Wesleyan Primary School and later entered Tonga High School.[1]

Thaman studied at the University of Auckland where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Geography in 1967. Then completed a year at the Auckland Secondary Teachers' College. From 1972 to 1973, Thaman worked as a research assistant in the United States at the University of California in Santa Barbara where she graduated with a Masters degree in Education. She later completed a PhD in Education at the University of the South Pacific (USP) in 1988.[1]

Career[edit]

Between 1969 and 1972, Thaman was a teacher in Tonga at Tonga High School.[2] She has worked at the University of the South Pacific since 1974 and currently holds a Personal Chair in Pacific Education and Culture, a position she has held since its establishment in 1998.[3] She has also held management positions at the university including Director of the Institute of Education, Head of the School of Humanities, and Pro-vice-chancellor.[4][5]

As an academic researcher, Thaman has been widely published, with a focus on education (including indigenous and teacher education), curriculum development, and sustainable development (with a focus on the Pacific context).[5][6]

Thaman has held several positions with UNESCO. Between 1998–2006 she was the UNESCO Chair in Teacher Education and Culture. She was a member of the UNESCO Asia Pacific Scientific Committee on Research in Higher Education as well as the Global Monitoring Committee for the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.[7] She is currently a Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Programme of Educational Innovation for Development and member of the Committee of Experts on the Application of the Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers.[5][4]

Works by Thaman have been used in primary and secondary education across the Pacific region.[5]

Thaman was the recipient of the 1996 Rusiate Nayacakalou Award.[8] Selected poetry by Thaman was included in UPU, a curation of Pacific Island writers’ work which was first presented at the Silo Theatre as part of the Auckland Arts Festival in March 2020.[9] UPU was remounted as part of the Kia Mau Festival in Wellington, New Zealand in June 2021.[10]

Her poems have been translated into multiple languages, including German by Renate von Gizyckia, in the collection of poems titled Inselfeuer (Reihe Literatur des Pazifik, 1986).[5] Her poems are also in several anthologies including Fire in the Sea: An Anthology of Poetry[11] and Art and Nuanua: Pacific Writing in English since 1980.[12]

Personal Life[edit]

Thaman is married to Randy Thaman, Professor at the University of South Pacific since February, 1974 and researcher of all the USP member countries.[13] Thaman is the mother to two children and is currently residing in Suva, Fiji where she is still working for USP.

Published works[edit]

Poetry collections[edit]

  • Songs of Love (Mana Publications, 1999)
  • Kakala (Mana Publications, 1993)
  • Hingano (Mana Publications, 1987)
  • Langakali (Mana Publications, 1981)
  • You the choice of my parents (Mana Publications, 1974)

Honours[edit]

National honours

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Subramani (April 1978). "Women in South Pacific literature: An interview with Konai Helu Thaman". World Literature Written in English. 17 (1): 263–267. doi:10.1080/17449857808588534. ISSN 0093-1705.
  2. ^ "About Dr Konai Helu Thaman". Fiji Sun. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  3. ^ "Professor Konai Helu Thaman". The University of the South Pacific. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  4. ^ a b Crossley, Michael; Hancock, Greg; Sprague, Terra (2015). Education in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. xviii. ISBN 978-1623567859.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Konai Helu Thaman". Pacific Community. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  6. ^ "Konai Helu Thaman". Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 7 November 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. ^ "Konai Helu Thaman | The Pacific Community". www.spc.int. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  8. ^ Thaman, Konai Helu (1997). "Reclaiming a Place: Towards a Pacific Concept of Education for Cultural Development". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 106 (2): 119–130. ISSN 0032-4000.
  9. ^ "UPU". SIlo Theatre. March 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  10. ^ "UPU". Kia Mau Festival. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  11. ^ Honolulu Academy of Arts (1996). Fire in the Sea: An Anthology of Poetry and Art. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 120. ISBN 978-0824816490. Konai Helu Thaman 1946.
  12. ^ Wendt, Albert (2013). Nuanua: Pacific Writing in English since 1980. Auckland University Press. ISBN 978-1869405731.
  13. ^ "Research Interests". Discipline of Geography, Earth Science & Environment. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  14. ^ "Royal orders presented at Palace". Matangi Tonga. 1 August 2008. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2022.

Further reading[edit]

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