In 1973 an emerging writer by the name of Albert Wendt delivered his first novel. Sons For The Return Home was groundbreaking, exploring love, freedom and racism in Aotearoa New Zealand. It was made into a film and became a secondary school text. Forty years on, in the largest Polynesian city in the world, Maualaivao Albert Wendt CNZM, Emeritus Professor of English at The University of Auckland, continues to break new ground as a novelist, poet, playwright, short story writer and artist. In 2012 alone he published the poetry collection From A Manoa Garden to Ponsonby and the short story collection Ancestry. Wendt’s contribution to the literary landscape is immense; his body of work an inspiration to generations of readers; his contribution to a Pacific literature unmatched. To celebrate his accomplishments, this session will bring the sounds of the Pacific to the stage: live Samoan music; excerpts from Wendt’s writing read by leading writers; and Wendt himself, who will distil his life and writing in conversation with Robert Sullivan.