Mophead Tu
The Queen's Poem
Published on 12. November 2020
Book
Hardback
96 pages
978-1-86940-944-9 (ISBN)
Description
In her bestselling Mophead, poet laureate and fast talking PI Selina Tusitala Marsh recounted her experience growing up Pasifika in Aotearoa and realising how her (and your) difference can make a difference.
In Mophead Tu, Selina is crowned Commonwealth Poet and invited to perform for the Queen in Westminster Abbey. But when someone at work calls her a 'sellout', Selina starts doubting herself. Can she stand with her people who struggled against the Queen . . . and serve the Queen?
From the sinking islands in the south seas to the smoggy streets of London, Mophead Tu: The Queen's Poem is a hilariously thought-provoking take on colonial histories and one poet's journey to bridge the divide.
Selina has to work out where she stands and how to be true to herself. She has to build a bridge from her sinking islands in the south seas to the smoggy streets of London. And she has to write a poem. None of it is easy. All of it is hilarious and moving.
Featuring Megan and Harry, piglets and climate change, Mophead Tu: The Queen's Poem is colonialism 101 for kids. It will make you laugh and make you think.
In Mophead Tu, Selina is crowned Commonwealth Poet and invited to perform for the Queen in Westminster Abbey. But when someone at work calls her a 'sellout', Selina starts doubting herself. Can she stand with her people who struggled against the Queen . . . and serve the Queen?
From the sinking islands in the south seas to the smoggy streets of London, Mophead Tu: The Queen's Poem is a hilariously thought-provoking take on colonial histories and one poet's journey to bridge the divide.
Selina has to work out where she stands and how to be true to herself. She has to build a bridge from her sinking islands in the south seas to the smoggy streets of London. And she has to write a poem. None of it is easy. All of it is hilarious and moving.
Featuring Megan and Harry, piglets and climate change, Mophead Tu: The Queen's Poem is colonialism 101 for kids. It will make you laugh and make you think.
Reviews / Votes
Praise for Mophead: 'funny and empowering with magnificent illustrations' Hera Lindsay Bird, Newsroom. 'a truly encouraging and rousing story of her extraordinary life' Dionne Christian, NZ Herald. 'I was immediately obsessed, completely and utterly infatuated. Mophead is an absolute treasure of a book . . . When pressed as to what my top book of the year is . . . Mophead is my go-to pick.' Briar Lawry, The SaplingMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Auckland
New Zealand
Target group
Young adult
Primary & secondary/elementary & high school
US School Grade: From Fourth Grade to Seventh Grade, Interest Age: From 9 to 12 years
Illustrations
Fully illustrated
Dimensions
Height: 239 mm
Width: 185 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
498 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-86940-944-9 (9781869409449)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Selina Tusitala Marsh is an Auckland-based Pasifika poet of Samoan, Tuvaluan, English, Scottish and French descent. She was the first Pacific Islander to graduate with a PhD in English from the University of Auckland where she is now an associate professor in the English Department, specialising in Pasifika literature. Her first collection, the bestselling Fast Talking PI, won the NZSA Jessie Mackay Award for Best First Book of Poetry in 2010. Marsh represented Tuvalu at the London Olympics Poetry Parnassus event in 2012; her work has been translated into Ukrainian and Spanish and has appeared in numerous forms live in schools, museums, parks, billboards, as well as print and online literary journals. As Commonwealth Poet (2016), she composed and performed for the Queen at Westminster Abbey. She was New Zealand's Poet Laureate from 2017-2019. In 2019 she was awarded a Humanities Aronui Medal and was elected a Nga Ahurei a Te Aparangi Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.