AustLit

Born in the Trobriand Islands, John Kasaipwalova is a noted Papua New Guinea poet and dramatist. Kasaipwalova attended St Brendan's College in Yeppoon, Queensland, where his outstanding performance as a student was rewarded with a Commonwealth scholarship. He subsequently enrolled at the University of Queensland and undertook study in arts and law.

Kasaipwalova's 'strongly nationalist' politics were his main focus. While on campus, he actively supported 'radical groups' such as the Revolutionary Socialist Students Alliance. Having failed his first-year exams, Kasaipwalova lost his scholarship and as a consequence, his visa.

In 1970, he returned to Papua New Guinea where he attended university and began experimenting with a variety of literary forms. Kasaipwalova's 'published and unpublished' writing is said to be 'the result of the intense creativity' of the following year, 1971. He has since succeeded as chief of the Kwenama Clan on Kiriwina Island.