Update: 12:51PM PACIFIC poet, academic and author Dr Teresia Teaiwa has died following a short illness.
Dr Teaiwa is described as a groundbreaking scholar in the research of Pacific Island culture.
Among her work included the militarism and gender in the Pacific, contemporary issues in Fiji and feminism, and women’s activism in the Pacific.
Of I-Kiribati and African-American heritage, Dr Teaiwa was born in Honolulu before being raised in Fiji.
She had been known to have deeply explored the issues that affected most Pacific islanders.
She taught history and politics for five years at the University of the South Pacific in Suva, Fiji, before moving to New Zealand to teach Pacific studies at Victoria University.
She later became director of Va’aomanu Pasifika at the university.
“As you know, Teresia has maintained her Fiji roots, something she was very proud of,” former colleague Cresantia Frances Koya Vaka’uta said.
“She will remain a very significant figure in Pacific creative writing as well as in higher education.”
Dr Teaiwa’s funeral service will be held in New Zealand this Saturday.
Her Fiji colleagues are expected to organise a memorial mass and other activities in Suva this week to celebrate her life.
