Professor Selina Tusitala Marsh

In 2004, she completed her thesis entitled “Ancient banyans, flying foxes and white ginger: Five Pacific women writers” that investigated the little-known works of five Pacific Island women poets Jully Makini (Solomon Islands), Grace Mera Molisa (Vanuatu), Haunani-Kay Trask (Hawai’i), Konai Helu Thaman (Tonga), and Momoe Malietoa Von Reiche (Samoa).

In brief, Selina believes these poets were pioneers of Pacific literature and were influential in giving a voice to Pacific women and children as a means of empowerment in a largely male-dominated post-colonial era – “Poetry was used as a political voice. These women were all quite remarkable boundary-breakers.” On completion of her doctorate she became the University of Auckland’s first Pacific student to graduate with a PhD in English where she now currently teaches papers on New Zealand and Pacific Literature.

Selina’s work has been widely published and has appeared in a range of online and hardcopy literary journals and anthologies including Blackmail Press, Whetu Moana: Contemporary Polynesian Poetry in English, Mauri Ola: Contemporary Polynesian Poetry in English–Whetu Moana II (Auckland University Press/UHP), Best New Zealand Poems 2006, Niu Voices: Contemporary Pacific Fiction 1 and The Contemporary Pacific (UHP).

Her books include Fast Talking PI (2009), Tightrope (2017), Mophead (2019) and Wot Knot You Got? Mophead's Guide to Life (2024). Selina established and co-ordinated Pasifika Poetry, an online hub celebrating the poetry of tagata o te moana nui, the peoples of the Pacific. Visit Pasifika Poetry.

She was New Zealand Poet Laureate from 2017-2019 and is the inaugural Commonwealth Poet Laureate (2025-2027).

Selina's other research interests include global Indigenous literatures and performance, and Selina has performed her poetry at a range of venues and festivals. She was the first poet to perform for two reigning monarchs at Westminster Abbey, most recently for King Charles III and Queen Camilla in March 2026.

For more detail about Selina's research and teaching, or to get in contact, visit Professor Selina Tusitala Marsh.