Sia Figiel was born in 1967. Her first book, "Where We Once Belonged" (Kaya Press), won the prestigious Commonwealth Writer's Prize Best First Book Award for the Southeast Asia/South Pacific region.
She has had residencies at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, the East-West Center in Hawaii, the Pacific Writing Forum at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji and Logoipulotu College in Savaii. She lives in Samoa.
Figiel has been on extensive reading tours; recent travels have taken her to New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii, Los Angeles, London and Germany. She is also known as a performance poet and has appeared at several international literary festivals.
Listen here to Sia Figiel read from her upcoming book, "They Who Do Not Grieve," recorded live at the SubTonic Lounge in New York.
Shares