The Book of the Black Star

Black Star, / were you born / during the first / Dawn / before / Tagaloa-A-Lagi / invented the Alphabet / of / Omens? In these words, hand drawn in black ink and swooping in and out of rolling patterns of dense black lines, Albert Wendt begins his exciting new collection. The Book of the Black Star boldly combines words and images in short poems with extraordinary power which draw on Samoan language and myth, and on dreams and memories, as well as on the daily life of the poet, a grandfather and teacher at home in an Auckland suburb. Wendt poured forth these rich 'imagetexts' during 2001, suddenly finding the words took shape on the page and expanded into drawings. They recall the worlds of tattoo, of siapa (tapa) and of graffiti, But they also in their density, complexity, variety and movement perfectly express the central motif of the black star, a mysterious force which drives the collection. Long recognised as a major writer, Albert Wendt is never predictable or complacent; he reveals here a remarkable creative imagination which is both distinctive and contemporary and deeply rooted in tradition and place.