Always Italicise

A first book of poetry from acclaimed Maori writer and scholar Alice Te Punga Somerville.

“'Biting, cheeky, defiant, sage - Alice's words speak out against injustice, speak up for the overlooked and sidelined, and speak softly for the tamariki. Always Italicise is a collection to carry closely.' --Aroha Harris 'This is a vital semantic offering from the centre to the outer reaches, through oceans and archives and tender hearts. This is a lesson on the power of language, institutions and love, written with astute wit and bite to swill, pulse and survive, and ultimately choke in the disciplinary mouths of empire.' --Natalie Harkin”

‘Biting, cheeky, defiant, sage – Alice’s words speak out against injustice, speak up for the overlooked and sidelined, and speak softly for the tamariki. Always Italicise is a collection to carry closely.’ Aroha Harris

Alice Te Punga Somerville (Te Āti Awa, Taranaki) is a scholar, poet and irredentist. She researches and teaches Māori, Pacific and Indigenous texts in order to centre Indigenous expansiveness and de-centre colonialism. Alice is a professor in the Department of English Language and Literatures and the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies at the University of British Columbia. She studied at the University of Auckland, earned a PhD at Cornell University, is a Fulbright scholar and Marsden recipient and has held academic appointments in New Zealand, Canada, Hawai‘i and Australia. Her first book Once Were Pacific: Māori Connections to Oceania (University of Minnesota Press, 2012) won Best First Book from the Native American & Indigenous Studies Association. Her most recent book is Two Hundred and Fifty Ways to Start an Essay about Captain Cook (BWB, 2020).

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.