"No one can take our story from us."
These are the words of a Chamorro elder, indigenous
to the Pacific island of Guam.
Craig Santos Perez invokes these words in his most recent book,
from Unincorporated Territory, [gumá],
published in 2014 by Omnidawn.
The elder is Craig Santos Perez's grandpa, and the island
of Guam and its indigenous Chamorro people
are Craig's origins and his commitment.
Craig inscribes his commitment into his three acclaimed books
of poetry, as well as his prose, which is currently
focused on breaking the legacy of gastro-colonalism,
a longstanding cultural and nutritional blight, in which
Indigenous local foods are crowded out
by commercialized, unhealthy colonizers,
such as the iconic can of SPAM.
Craig also affirms his commitment
through his scholarship and support for indigenous writers
and writing communities in Hawaii,
where he directs the creative writing
program at the University of Hawaii Manoa,
throughout the Pacific, and in indigenous North America.
"No one can take our story from us."
When Craig takes the podium, we will
understand that we are a part of this story
about the ways that colonialism and militarisation invade
native peoples, cultures, and ecologies,
and the ways that we can fight back.
And I predict that we will never have heard the story
unfold in poetry in as comprehensive and daring
a way as we will tonight, incorporating cross-outs,
white space, line drawings, maps, the Chamorro
language, the public record, Facebook comments,
and instructions for making a delicious and revolutionary
green smoothie.
Mmm.
Craig Santos Perez's work establishes poetic sites
as complex and rich as the physical place it
references and champions.
Let's all welcome Craig Santos Perez.
[APPLAUSE]