John Kasaipwalova is an author of Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

. He was born in 1949 of indigenous parentage in Okaidoka Village on Kiriwina

Kiriwina

Kiriwina is the largest of the Trobriand Islands, with an area of 290.5 km². It is part of the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. Most of the 12,000 people who live in the Trobriands live on Kiriwina. The Kilivila language, also known as Kiriwina, is spoken on the island...

 Island of the Trobriand Islands

Trobriand Islands

The Trobriand Islands are a 450 km² archipelago of coral atolls off the eastern coast of New Guinea. They are situated in Milne Bay Province in Papua New Guinea. Most of the population of 12,000 indigenous inhabitants live on the main island of Kiriwina, which is also the location of the...

, Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

. He was originally destined to be a tribal chief, but he was instead sent to Catholic school where he earned an academic scholarship to attend University of Queensland

University of Queensland

The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...

, to study veterinary medicine

Veterinary medicine

Veterinary Medicine is the branch of science that deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, disorder and injury in non-human animals...

. Before finishing that degree he enrolled at the University of Papua New Guinea

University of Papua New Guinea

The University of Papua New Guinea was established by ordinance of the Australian administration in 1965. This followed the Currie Commission which had enquired into higher education in Papua New Guinea...

, where he began his literary career and gained a reputation as an anti-colonial radical.

Published works

• Hanuabada (a compilation of poetry)(1972)
• Reluctant Flame (a compilation of poetry)(1972)
• Kanaka's Dream (satirical play)
• The Rooster in the Confessional (satirical play)
• The Naked Jazz (satirical play)
• My Brother (satirical play)
• My Enemy (satirical play)
• Sail the Midnight Sun (co-author with Greg Murphy)(folk opera)(1980)
• Betel Nut is Bad Magic for Airplanes (short story)

Other work

Kasaipwalova also developed the grass-roots co-operative and cultural movement in Trobriand Islands. He was briefly jailed over alleged mishandling of government funds. He went into business and now lives on his traditional tribal land.