Papua New Guinea
Oceania
Papua New Guinea occupies the eastern half of New Guinea and hundreds of surrounding islands in the southwestern Pacific. Its landscapes include tropical rainforests, volcanic mountains, coral reefs, and remote highland valleys. The capital, Port Moresby, sits on the southern coast. With more than 800 languages, the country has extraordinary cultural diversity, shaped by distinct Indigenous communities, ancestral traditions, and close relationships with the land.
Papua New Guinea’s literary heritage is rooted in oral storytelling, myths, legends, and ancestral histories passed down through generations. Modern literature explores colonialism, cultural identity, social change, and the tension between traditional values and contemporary life. Vincent Eri, author of The Crocodile, wrote one of the first novels published by a Papua New Guinean, portraying the effects of colonial rule. Lloyd Jones, whose novel Mister Pip is set on Bougainville during conflict, also brought the country’s complex history and the power of literature to international readers.