Agnes Are (23) was born in Mumeng in Morobe Province.  She is in her first year of teaching at Kundiawa Lutheran Day High School.  She enjoys writing poems, especially ‘love poems’.  She started writing poems as therapy after a broken relationship.

Poetry: Circle of Tears

Alma Warokra (23) was born in Port Moresby.  She says that she has always had a passion for writing but until now has not really had an outlet for it.  She enjoyed English in school because it came easy to her and she wrote regularly and enthusiastically, taking part in all the competitions and performances that were held.  She is now out of school and doing her residency in dentistry.

Short stories: Happily Ever After; #Second

Angeline Low (16) was born in Port Moresby and is a science student at the PNG Paradise High School.  She is an avid writer, particularly of young adult fiction and essays.  She also loves poetry.  She hasn’t made her mind up about a career yet but finds the idea of journalism appealing.

Student: Going Through the Unimaginable; Sweet Sophie

Anita Konga (23) was born in Madang with Western Highlands and Madang parentage. She is currently studying Communication Arts at Divine Word University in Madang.  Her personal motto in life is ‘live simple, aim high’.

Poetry: This Part of the World

Anthony Kippel (32) comes from Kimbe on West New Britain.  He currently lives and works on Lihir Island in New Ireland Province.

Poetry: A Dog’s Philosophy

Heritage: Traditions of the Bena Bena People of the Eastern Highlands

Axel Rice (15) was born at Tusa Hospital in Lae of mixed Australian and Papua New Guinean parentage.  He is a Year 10 student at Coronation College in Lae.  He has lived in Papua New Guinea most of his life and enjoys writing, especially essays.

Student: What Have We Come To?

Beauty Rupa Loi (14) was born in Port Moresby.  She is a student at St Paul’s Primary School.  Her father’s family comes from Babaka on the Wai River about 200 kilometres east of Port Moresby.  She won the school First Prize Award for grade 6A in 2011.

Heritage: The Story of Totoga Wai from Babaka Village

Bernard Sinai (30) comes from Manus Province and now lives in Port Moresby.  He started writing fiction while at college and published his first short story in 2006.  Most of his work is fiction which draws heavily on his own real life experiences and those around him.

Short stories: The Dilemma; The Bamboo Master

Poetry: Trupla Man

Biango Buia (?) was born at Usakuk on the mainland about 90 kms west of Daru in the Western Province.  He is a teacher specialising in the field of teacher education and is currently managing development programmes and activities for his church in partnership with the PNG Government, AusAID, EU, PNGSDP and others.  His stories are part of a novel he is writing.

Short story: Fire Truck

Brenda Anduwan (12) was born at the Angau Hospital in Lae.  Her parents come from Enga Province. She is a Grade 7 student at the Lae Christian Academy.  She spent four years in school in the USA when her father went there for post graduate study.

Student: Pink and Round

Brigette Wase (26) was born in Kiunga in Western Province of mixed Oro and Central Provinces parentage.  She completed studies at UPNG and works with Papua New Guinea Immigration and Citizenship Services. Her hobbies include reading, mostly fiction and history.  She occasionally writes poetry.

Short stories: The Knocks; The Mountain

Charlotte Vada (30) was born in Port Moresby.  She likes to write short stories, flash fiction, radio and stage plays.  Charlotte won the Tapa Prize for adult writing in 2011.

Short story: The Fan

Clara Philomena Are (16) was born in Mount Hagen in Western Highlands Province of mixed Simbu (Gumine) and Eastern Highlands Province (Daulo) parentage.  She is currently in Grade 9 at Goroka Grammar School. She wants to be a doctor like her late father. She likes reading, going to school, shopping, watching movies and listening to music.

Student: Sporty: A Dog’s Life

David Gonol (29) was born at Marapa in the Tambul District of the Western Highlands Province.  He is a lawyer by profession and an Assistant Registrar at Waigani in Port Moresby.  He likes writing and published his first book, I’ve Grown to Love Jesus in 2011.  He is now working on another one.  He is not yet married and plans to spend his life serving God and writing books, poems and short stories.

Poetry: Legal Joke

Essays & Journalism: Sir Koitaga Mano OBE and the House of Assembly

David Kitchnoge (34) was born in Kainantu in the Eastern Highlands Province.  His parents come from the East Sepik and Morobe Provinces.  He is a graduate of the Divine Word University in Madang and is a financial manager living in Port Moresby.  He regards himself as a rural product and is very passionate about rural development issues.

Essays & Journalism: Get the balance right between social and economic realities that underlie the development of professional sport in PNG.

Dilu Daniel Okuk (37) was born in Port Moresby.  He has qualifications in creative industry and education and is a high school teacher and a semi-professional visual artist.  He is also an elder of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Goroka.  He is married with four children and lists his hobbies as travelling, reading and ‘eating pasta’.

Short story: Third from the Fourth Marriage

Dominica Are (26) was born and grew up in Mount Hagen in Western Highlands Province of mixed Simbu and Eastern Highlands parentage.  She has a degree in Business Accountancy from Divine Word University and works for CARE International.  She is single and her hobbies include reading, listening to music, watching movies, go shopping and writing.

Short stories: False Tears; The Finger

Elizabeth Wawaga (28) was born in Rabaul and calls Kokopo in East New Britain Province home.  She has recently moved to Goroka as a Scientific Officer at the Institute of Medical Research.  She likes to write about simple things that people don't immediately appreciate.  She also likes to write about the different things she encounters and experiences because she feels that by writing them down future generations can be encouraged and given a sense of direction when they come across similar situations.

Short story: God’s Blessing in Every Step of the Way

Emma Tunne Wakpi (32) is from Tombil in the Minj District of Jiwaka Province. She is a business graduate and community development worker with Evangelical Brotherhood Church Health Establishment based in Goroka. Emma says she was discouraged from pursuing a career in writing by her family due to the “lack of opportunities” it afforded. “However, I have always been interested in writing,” she says, “especially essays and poetry and in my spare time try to write and have done so since 2006.”

Poetry: The Making of Me

Essays & Journalism: A Tribute to My Fathers; The Haunting 

Eric Gabriel (29) was born in Morobe Province but hails from Rigo in Central Province. He is a graduate of the University of Goroka and is a teacher at Magrida High School.

Short story: Love When Bought

Erick Kowa (31) was born in Kaut on New Ireland.  His father came from West Sepik and worked for Burns Philp.  In 1991, after a stint on Bougainville, his family went to live at Wara Kongkong, outside Vanimo.  He went to Green River High School and then St Ignatius Secondary School in Aitape.  He studied Chemical Engineering on a scholarship at the University of Queensland and worked for Oil Search as a Petroleum Engineer until 2009.  He completed a Master’s Degree in Oil and Gas Engineering at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland while on a British Chevening Scholarship.  After that he was employed by IPA, an American consulting house, successively in London, Washington and Singapore, as a Capital Project Analyst for Upstream Oil and Gas Exploration and Production.

Poetry: Mama’s Bilum; The Great Speech – A Bush Poet’s Commentary; Trials of the Yellow Man

Francis Nii (49) was born at Yobai, Karimui Nomane in the Simbu Province.  He has a degree in economics from UPNG and was a banker with the National Development Bank until an accident left him paraplegic.  He is now a patient of the Kundiawa General Hospital.  He has had an interest in writing since his UPNG days.  He was an entrant in the 2011 Crocodile Prize and his work features in the Anthology for that year.

Essays & Journalism: How to Break Free from the Vicious Cycle of dinau; Wake Up PNG!

Heritage: Modernisation of Tribal War: A Threat to Civilisation

Gelab Piak (24) was born in Port Moresby and is a student at the Divine Word University in Madang.  He began writing poems in 2006.  He also writes songs and short stories.  He has a collection of poems ready for publication and is seeking a publisher.  A number of his works were published in the 2011 Crocodile Competition Anthology.

Short story: Burnt

Poetry: Paddle Me Back

Golova Mari (59) was born in Wanigela Village in Central Province.  He began work with the Finance Department in 1974 and moved to the Postal and Telegraph Department in 1975.  In 1999 he was voluntarily retrenched from Telikom PNG.

Heritage: The Migration of Wanigela People of Central Province to Tufi in Oro Province

Grace Maribu (42) comes from Gomlongon village on Siassi Island in Morobe Province.  She has been around story-telling people her whole life. Her mother and both grandfathers are gifted story-tellers, imparting to her the love of telling stories. Later, when she started at school, she naturally gravitated towards books and has read almost everything from Charles Dickens to Nancy Drew. She says if the world was equal, she would have first headed down the writer’s path, although she has not completely ruled out that option. She still hopes to publish a book one day.

Short story: Father of the Man

Hannah Ilave (17) was born in Port Moresby.  Her father comes from Gulf Province and her mother from Malaysia.  She is a Grade 12 student at Port Moresby   International School currently doing the International Baccalaureate Diploma program. She believes that inspiration comes from experience and that life is never easy and so must be met head on.

Student: Where Have All The Children Gone?

Henry Sape (60) was born in Pawale Village near Erave in the Southern Highlands Province.  He lives in Port Moresby and is a community leader and village court magistrate.  He is the Chairman of the 8 Mile Block Owner’s Association.

Heritage: How Yari Siwi Got Their Body Decoration

Hilda Fromai Yerive (48) was born at Boiken, near Wewak, in East Sepik Province.  She is a Library Technician by profession and works as a Senior Library Officer at the Michael Somare Library at the University of Papua New Guinea.  She hopes to write more stories but feels that she needs a short course to be able to write better.

Heritage: Malah’s Initiation to Womanhood

Hinuvi Onafimo (30) was born in Goroka and now lives in Port Moresby.  He is a graphic artist who likes writing in his free time.

Poetry: A Journey to My Womb; A Poet’s Chant; Nervous Poet; Old Sibuta; Road to Seclusion

Hogande Kiafuli (27) comes from the Lufa District of Eastern Highlands Province.  He is a medical officer who currently lives and works in Goroka.  He writes occasionally and maintains a blog.  He says that writing is more than a hobby.  He believes that it’s a habit in which the creativities of the mind are inked onto pages.  He also thinks that anyone can write, although only the smart ones write well.

Short story: An Adventure with Potholes

Ian Dabasori Hetri (26) was born in Lae. He is a freelance writer from the Waria valley, sandwiched between Oro and Morobe Provinces, who is passionate about reading and writing.  He says that he is a true book worm who writes about anything that fascinates him.  He writes about relationships, careers and promotions, environmental issues and Pacific life styles.  He also writes poetry and reviews books and movies. He has an honours degree in Agriculture Science and is a candidate for a Master of Philosophy in Agriculture. But he says “forget about those papers – it is all about writing that I’m passionate about”.

Short story: The K50 House

Imelda Yabara (36) was born in Port Moresby and lives in Madang.  Her partner is a magistrate and she follows him around the country. She is the mother of two girls and, when time permits, loves writing. She has a blog at [email protected] where she publishes her work.  She was an entrant in the 2011 competition and two of her poems were published in the anthology.

Short story: My Name is Sandy

Poetry: In Bed With Me #2; Way out of reach

Jeffrey Mane Febi (35) comes from Simbu Province.  He is a geologist working in the oil and gas industry and lives with his wife and child in Port Moresby.  Writing and reading are his favourite hobbies and he has had some success in publishing his work locally.  He is an accomplished poet and writer and won the 2011 Crocodile Prize for a short story.

Short story: Oh, It’s the Songs They Sing

Poetry: A Poet’s Quest; Dreams of a Place

Jeremiah Toni (18) comes from Butibam Village in Morobe Province.  He is in Grade 11A.

Student: In the Memory

Jimmy Apiu (52) comes from Lae.  He lives in Port Moresby and is a technician with Telikom PNG.

Short Stories: Adults; Binge with Mary Jane

Jimmy Drekore (38) comes from Sinasina in the Simbu Province, which he still calls home.  He is an analytical chemist working on Lihir.  When he is on leave he does charity work with the Simbu Children Foundation.  He styles himself as a “bush poet” who “paints” poems in his quiet moments.  He won the 2011 Crocodile Prize for Poetry.

Poetry: Mama; Seasonal Seducers

Joshua Rere (15) comes from Goroka in the Eastern Highlands.  He is a student in Grade 11 at Goroka Secondary School.  His hobbies include reading, watching TV and collecting used Digicel Flex cards.  His favourite food is fried chicken with potato chips and his favourite sport is rugby league.

Student: The Fight

Jovie Hriehwazi (18) was born in Lae and is a student at the Port Moresby   International School.  He likes playing soccer, reading books and listening to music.

Student: Great Man’s Tale

Kayla Reimann (13) grew up in Kimbe in West New Britain Province. She started boarding at Somerville House in South Brisbane last year.  She says that although going to school in Australia is a big change for her she misses all the fishing and swimming.  She is having a great time however and loves writing.

Student: Baia Village; Peace on Earth

Kela Kapkora Sil Bolkin (39) was born in the Galkope area in the Simbu Province. He studied to become a Catholic priest but quit soon after completing his philosophical studies and attended the UPNG where he completed a BA majoring in Social Development and Anthropology.  He also has a certificate of Leadership in Strategic Health Communication from the Johns Hopkins University (USA). He is now the Senior Policy Analyst at the National AIDS Council Secretariat in Port Moresby.  His work appeared in the 2011 Crocodile Prize anthology and he currently has a book about Simbu men’s houses with the publisher Crawford House.

Short stories: He Broke the Egg; Now I Can Die

Lapieh Landu (23) was born in Port Moresby   of mixed Eastern Highlands, Milne Bay and Sanduan parentage.  She has completed an Arts degree at the Divine Word University in Madang studying international relations.  She is someone who realises the need for culture and traditions to be captured and maintained through writing but also its importance in today’s technological society.  She was the inaugural winner of the 2011 Crocodile Prize for Women’s Literature.

Poetry: For You I Will …; Misconception; She’s a Mother – That’s How!; What Happened Back Then!

Essays & Journalism: Are we ready 30 years on …?

Leonard Fong Roka (33) was born in Arawa and grew up in the Panguna District during the years of the Bougainville crisis.  He began writing poetry as a student at Arawa High School and has now compiled a collection of short stories and poetry which he hopes to publish.  He has returned after a break as a student at Divine Word University and is working on an autobiography of his experiences in the Bougainville war in his spare time.  He had some of his earlier work published in the 2011 Crocodile Competition Anthology.

Short story: Dancing in a Redskin’s Arawa

Poetry: Christianity; Dance to the Beautiful Sea; The Magic of Kunu’nava

Heritage: Migration and Mythology: The Way from Shortland to Kieta; The Complex Rituals of Death in Kieta Society

Lorraine Evangeline Basse (25) comes from Manam Island in Madang Province.  She was born and raised in Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province. She has just completed four years of studies at Divine Word University and will be graduating this year with a Bachelor in Communication Arts (Journalism). She is currently happily working with the Melanesian Institute in Goroka. She is the second eldest and the only girl in a family of eight children. Both of her parents are not working and she is currently taking care of her younger siblings. She likes reading books, writing poems and short stories, sewing and making necklaces and earrings. She also plays basketball, volleyball and soccer.

Essays & Journalism: Untighten Your Fist

Heritage: Barasi – The Manam Way of Celebrating a New Year

Loujaya Toni (46) was born in Lae.  As a young poet, her collection of poems, A Sense of Interest was published by the Education Department.  In 1985 she launched a string of solo gospel music albums under the name Loujaya Dunar and is a recognised singer/songwriter.  She wrote and performed the song, Keep the Fire Alive with Tambaran Culture, as a tribute to the 9th South Pacific Games in 1991.  She is a qualified journalist and teacher and a practicing naturopath.  Loujaya contested the national elections in 2007 and the local level government elections in 2008, giving her male opposition candidates a close run for their money.  This year she successfully contested the elections as a candidate in the Lae Open Electorate and is now a member of parliament.

Poetry: Once Upon a Prime Time; She Lied; To Whom it May Concern; Twenty Two Women 

Macquin Anduwan (18) was born at the Angau Hospital in Lae.  His parents come from Enga Province. He is a Grade 12 student at the Lae Secondary School.  He spent four years in school in the USA when his father went there for post graduate study.

Student: Man’s Best Friend

Marie-Rose Sau (22) was born in Rabaul in East New Britain Province. She hails from the three provinces of Simbu, East New Britain and Morobe respectively. She is single and currently works at the Bank of Papua New Guinea.  Her hobbies include reading and poetry. Along with PNG artist, Jeffrey Feeger, she organized the Poetry Slam reading event in PNG this year.

Poetry: A Journey Far Away

Martyn Namorong (26) was born at Baimuru in the Gulf Province and grew up in a logging camp at Kamusi on the border between Western and Gulf Provinces.  His parents come from Madang and Western Province.  He was a medical student at UPNG until 2009 but is now a street vendor and ‘Papua New Guinea’s most controversial blogger’.  He won the 2011 Crocodile Prize for Essays and Journalism.

Essays & Journalism: Does PNG really have an attitude problem?; What is Development?

Mary Avia Koisen (33) lives in Port Moresby   and works for Telikom PNG as an account executive for mining, petroleum and gas companies.  She enjoys writing whenever she reaches an emotional high. She also loves art and expressions of feelings through paintings and hopes to one day take up art and learn to paint.

Poetry: I am sorry it has been so frustrating

Michael Dom was born in Port Moresby. He graduated from the University of Papua New Guinea and now works as an agricultural scientist for a government organisation. He says he writes poetry because he likes to have his say. He also feels that poetry is often underestimated as a powerful means of expression for the collective conscience of people.  Some of his work was published in the 2011 Crocodile Competition Anthology.

Poetry: A candlelight market in Port Moresby; As I bask in her afterglow; Beauty is in da water; Haiku written about night time at a village along the Papua coast; Hearing rain approach while reading in bed at night: Morobe Province; i got sex on my mind – in the club!; Johnny got wan nu muruk insait his banis; Lucky Little Lizard; Ples we mitupela I bin stap wantaim; Return to Mambon Nil; So near, so far – a sonnet to transience;  Sonnet 1: Parallel Lanes to Nowhere; Sonnet 3: I met a pig farmer the other day; State of the Public Service; This is My Place; Today another good man passed

Essays & Journalism: Let’s Not Mince Words About Buai Bisnis; What’s Buai Got To Do With It?

Miriam Roko (50) was born in Tatana Village on Tatana Island near Port Moresby  .  She is married with three children and one granddaughter.  She worked as a clerk, being the sole computer operator at Ela Motors between 1981-3, and then going on to other companies.  She also has qualifications in business studies.  She is involved in church ministries and is a Youth Parent working with young people.

Heritage: The Last of the Segera Tutubes

Nou Frederick Vada (21) was born in Elevala-Hanuabada near Port Moresby.  He spent his early childhood in Wollongong in New South Wales.  He is a law student at the University of Papua New Guinea and a great lover of story books.  His ambition is to work in a field that marries his legal studies with his interests as a writer.

Short story: Norah Jones

Essays & Journalism: Delusion, Disillusionment and the Devil’s advocate – A bedtime story for Papua New Guineans who believe in change

Patricia Martin (42) was born in Port Moresby and now lives in Lae.  She is a teacher and enjoys teaching poetry and story writing.  She is hoping to one day have her poems published.

Poetry: Struggling between two cultures

Peter Maime (44) was born at Kukam Nok near Minj in the South Wahgi District of Jiwaka Province.  He trained as a journalist at Divine Word University in Madang and worked with the Times of PNG, Wantok and The Independent newspapers.  He is now the Executive Officer at the Office of the National Statistician in Port Moresby.

Short story: Missed  -  the Wielding Axes

Peter Richard Jokise (25) was born in Lae in Morobe Province.  He is a biochemist by profession.  He is interested in psychology, religion and ‘the things that affect humanity’.  He likes to read and write; his favourite genres are fantasy, horror and conspiracy theory.  In his free time he blogs, watches movies or just daydreams ‘new ideas’.  His goal is to see PNG ‘reach higher levels of civilisation’, especially in the way its people socialise.

Short story: Diary of Phoenix

Peter Sevara (29) was born in Port Moresby.  He loves everything Papua New Guinean.

Short story: Dominoes of Love

Poetry: Timeless Attitudes

Pusateryanna Tandak (13) was born on Santo in Vanuatu.  Her father comes from Pina Village near Wabag in Enga Province in Papua New Guinea and her mother comes from Vanuatu.  She is a student in Year Seven at St Michelle Secondary School in Luganville on Santo.  When she finishes her Year 10 studies she hopes to go to Papua New Guinea to finish off her education.

Student: We are Children of God

Raroteone Tefuarani (29) was born in Port Moresby   and comes from Takuu/Mortlock atoll in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville.  She works for Australasia Pacific Panel Limited.  She enjoys different types of writing and dreams of having one of her stories published one day.

Essays & Journalism: My Atoll, My Home

Regina Dorum (25) comes from Mount Hagen.  She is a Chemist with a gold mining company in Port Moresby.  She began her interest in reading in Grade 5 when she was eleven years old.  She is a fan of fantasy novels and authors like Dean Koonz, Stephen King, David Eddings and Diana Gabaldon.  Last year she thought, why not write, anyone can write, and surprised herself by writing 20,000 words of an epic fantasy that she hopes will become a trilogy.

Short story: Angel

Ruth Kamasungua comes from the Simbu Province. She is currently completing her Masters Degree in Literature at the University of Papua New Guinea. Her first book of poems, The Learner, will be published shortly by The Anuki Country Press and The UPNG Bookshop.

Short story: Nightmare

Sharina Paliou (15) was born in Wewak in East Sepik Province.  She is in Grade 9 at Coronation College in Lae.  Her ambition is to be a writer.  Otherwise, she enjoys life to the fullest.

Student: First Day at a New School

Sophie Garana (55) comes from Siwai in South Bougainville.  She is a retired Primary School Teacher who taught in Bougainville and Madang for over 34 years.  She has a Certificate in Teaching and a Diploma in Primary Teaching from the PNG Institute of Education.

Poetry: The Bougainville Crisis

Stanley Mark (27) was born in Mount Hagen in Western Highlands Province.  He is a researcher at the Melanesian Institute in Goroka and likes to write about his culture and about social, economic, cultural and political issues affecting grass-roots people in Papua New Guinea.

Essays & Journalism: Nakan in Madang Town

Vanessa Tilber Kavanamur (18) was born in Madang and but has roots in New Britain.  She is a Grade Eleven student at Coronation College in Lae.  She spent four years in Japan with her parents and while she learnt Japanese her English skills suffered.  She is an avid reader and this helped her regain those skills.  She first started writing poetry in Grade Nine and it has been a hobby ever since.

Student: Wonderful Sphere

Werner Cohill (31) was born at Alexishafen in Madang province.  He is a parliamentary officer attached to the Parliamentary committee secretariat section of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea.

Essays & Journalism: Is Sex Education Compatible in Primary Schools in PNG?; Robust Force or Rogue Cops: The Future of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary