Black Sugarcane is a landmark debut collection by Nafanua Purcell Kersel. Restless in form and address, these engaging and generous poems ricochet from light to dark, quiet to loud, calm to violence. We meet a loved twin sister as she dives towards the Sacred Centre, a grandmother who knows everything by heart, a shrugging office clerk, and Nafanua herself, an enigmatic shapeshifter.

At the heart of Black Sugarcane is a sequence of erasure poems arising from the seminal essay ‘In Search of Tagaloa’ by Tui Atua Tamasese Ta‘isi Efi. From the worlds contained in the text, these poems rise as if inevitable. Another sequence responds to the devastating tsunami that stuck between the Samoan islands of Upolu and Tutuila in September 2009. Within the line, within the word and even the letter, these poems speak to creation and translation, destruction and regeneration.

‘Nafanua Purcell Kersel yields her machete-pen with ease, humour and aroha.’
—Anne-Marie Te Whiu

Published 13 February. Paperback, $30

Black Sugarcane launch: 6pm, Thursday 13 February, Unity Books Wellington
We’re really looking forward to the launch of this landmark debut poetry collection. The book will be launched by Amber Esau, there will be a reading by Nafanua, and the opportunity to have your copy signed by the author. More information here.

Black Sugarcane Heretaunga launch: 6pm, Wednesday 19 February, Wesley Community Centre, Hastings
This will be a beautiful celebration of Nafanua’s collection, with speeches, kai and books for sale thanks to Wardini Books. More information here.