Far North man’s poetry book focuses on life as Palagi-Samoan New Zealander

Far North resident Mike Bentley has just released a book of poems on his life as a Palagi-Samoan New Zealander

Growing up as a Palagi-Samoan New Zealander has given Kaitāia man Mike Bentley a fairly unique perspective of the cultures he represents.

Now Bentley has released a book of poems outlining his experiences around the world as a baby boomer born into a mixed-race family.

He said the book of 30 poems is dedicated, among others, to his venerable grandmother Atua Fanane, Papamoa-based writer and historian Dr Trevor Bentley and the late Professor Albert Wendt, his esteemed mentor.

Michael Fanene Bentley was born of the aiga (family) Gapia Tui Samoa, with his ancestral village Saleilua, in the Falealili district on Upolu Island.

He was raised in a state house in Auckland’s eastern suburbs and educated at state schools in Panmure, Tamaki and Glen Innes, and later majored in English at Auckland University where he further refined his passion for language.

Mike Bentley’s new poetry book.

In 1977, he left for Canada to work in psychiatric rehabilitation before returning to New Zealand in 1996. He said said his poems reflect his experiences and perspective of life in these places.

He now lives in Honeymoon Valley, west of Kaitāia, and said he had worked and served his aiga in Samoa and has inherited an interest in telling stories through verse, as well as short stories and novellas.

His work reflects the Samoan people’s unique humour and carries underlying messages for his aiga and Samoans at home and abroad.

To get a copy of Palagi - Samoan New Zealander email kereubooksnz@gmail.com or direct  tomichaelfanenebentley@gmail.com

■ Palangi or papaalagi is a pan-Polynesian term for a European or Caucasian person.