Tusiata Avia wows Flaxmere youths

Tusiata Avia, poet, performer and author of Wild Dogs Under My Skirt and Bloodclot wowed Flaxmere College students on Monday 3 March with an outstanding performance.

Reading from her poems and talking about her life, travels and experiences as a Samoan New Zealander, Tusiata's powerful words created quite a stir amongst the audience. 

Tusiata followed her presentation with a more intimate workshop attended by some of the senior students.

"What a great visit! Our students got so much from it and it was wonderful to see them so focussed and engaged and feeling that sense of achievement from creating something they were proud of. The feedback from all the students I have spoken to has been very positive. Thank you so much for all your hard work to make it happen." - Teacher

Tusiata has held a number of writer’s residencies including the Fulbright Pacific Writer’s Fellowhip at University of Hawai’i and the Ursula Bethel Writer in Residence at University of Canterbury. Tusiata travels widely and has performed at poetry festivals from Morocco to Jerusalem and most recently at Poetry Parnassus, where she represented Samoa at the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.