Poetic Responses to Climate Change in the Lyrical Work by Daren Kamali

Name: Poetic Responses to Climate Change in the Lyrical Work by Daren Kamali
Start: 2025-06-12T20:00:00-0400
End: 2025-06-12T21:30:00-0400

Thu, 12 Jun, 8pm - 9:30pm EDT

Online Event

Centre for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies

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Event description

Join us for a dynamic hybrid workshop exploring poetry, climate justice, and Pacific identity through the lyrical work of Fijian-born writer Daren Kamali. Visiting Fellow Dr. Maria Pilar Royo-Grasa (CAPRS) will guide participants through poetic selections from Tales, Poems and Songs from the Underwater World (2011), examining how Kamali’s work reclaims Indigenous knowledge and challenges neocolonial portrayals of Pacific Islanders as passive victims of climate change.

Drawing on Epeli Hau’ofa’s concept of the Pacific as a “sea of islands” and the lived realities of climate-related harm in Fiji, this workshop will combine literary analysis with discussion on the power of Pacific storytelling to drive environmental consciousness and resistance.

Hosted by the Centre for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies (CAPRS), this event invites attendees to engage with critical themes of voice, vulnerability, and poetic activism. Join us in person or online.

Dr. Pilar Royo-Grasa is a lecturer at the Department of English and German Studies of the University of Zaragoza, where she teaches English Literature and Language. She has been awarded a José Castillejo scholarship to attend the University of Auckland as a Visiting Fellow, where she is doing research on how Fijian authors, based in New Zealand, tackle themes such as climate related mobility in their literary works. She is the author of the monograph Trauma, Australia and Gail Jones’s Fiction (1996-2007) (Peter Lang 2022), and has published in international journals such as Journal of Postcolonial Writing, The European Legacy, Humanities, Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, Journal of the European Association for the Studies of Australia, and Commonwealth Essays and Studies.

Maria Ahmad is a Researcher and PhD candidate at the University of Auckland. Her areas of research and interests include refugee education and civic participation, social justice and equity in higher education, and ethnic women empowerment. She has been involved with The Centre for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies (CAPRS) since its inception in 2020 as an oversight board member.

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Centre for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies

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CAPRS envisions a future where forcibly displaced people are respected and supported to rebuild their lives with dignity and hope.

Established in 2020 as a research centre at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland, the Centre for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies (CAPRS) is uniquely positioned to advance our vision and mission as a critic and conscience of society*. CAPRS is comprised of a transdisciplinary group of scholars and practitioners committed to transforming research into impact.

Situated in Aotearoa New Zealand, we are committed to upholding the principles, rights, and obligations articulated in Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi), the country’s founding document. Our location positions us as a hub for addressing displacement challenges across the Asia Pacific region and beyond. By leveraging Aotearoa New Zealand's strong traditions of diplomacy, human rights advocacy, and expertise in indigenous rights and environmental sustainability, CAPRS offers a valuable perspective for understanding and responding to issues of forced displacement, social justice, and human security.

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Thu, 12 Jun, 8pm - 9:30pm EDT

Online Event

Hosted by Centre for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies