Don’t just sit there – do something, and do it now!

PHIL FITZPATRICK

THREE YEARS AGO I wrote an article for the Post Courier’s Independence Day supplement bemoaning the decline of literature in Papua New Guinea.

Since then we’ve had two years of the Crocodile Prize literary competition, which conclusively proved I was awry in my assessment. 

There is nothing wrong with literature in Papua New Guinea.  It is very far from being in decline. On the contrary, it is absolutely booming! 

There are hundreds, that’s right, hundreds of talented writers out there scribbling and typing away every hour and every day of the week.

You name it and they are writing about it – love and romance, politics and war, social issues, history, the future, pigs, dogs and everything.

How can that be true, you ask?  And, if it is true, how come we can’t go into a shop and buy their books?  After all, this is what we want to read, it is much more interesting than those second hand and distant books from overseas.

And, of course, that is the nub of the problem - you’ve got it in one.  There are plenty of shops that would sell Papua New Guinean books if they could get them, especially if they came at a reasonable cost.  The trouble is, there are no books being published for the shops to sell.

Why not?  The answer is that there is no money to be made from publishing Papua New Guinean writers and their books.  Production costs are too high, distribution is difficult, the market is too small and people need to buy food and other necessities before they spend money on luxuries like books.

Try this for an example.  It has cost us close to K50,000 to print 3,000 copies of the 2012 Crocodile Prize Anthology.  That’s K17 per copy without the cost of editing, design and distribution.  If we wanted to get our money back we’d have to wholesale it for at least K35.  With the retailer’s profit margin that would take it up to around K50 a copy.  And that would be a really cheap Papua New Guinean book.  You can buy a lot of rice and tinfish for K50.

But books aren’t luxuries, you say. The heart and soul of a nation are defined by its literature; no luxury, surely?  And besides, with declining literacy rates, our kids need good Papua New Guinean books to read.  How else can they learn about their country, its past, its prospects?  Someone needs to do something about it!  What is the government doing, for goodness sake?

And here you would be hitting the nub of the problem on the head.  What is the government doing?

The answer is a very sad ‘absolutely nothing’.  Isn’t that appalling?  Isn’t that shameful?  And to make matters worse, it isn’t just the current government or the one before that or even the one before that; it’s all of them, ever since independence and, to Australia’s shame, even before that. 

Why on earth did they launch a new nation without ensuring it had the beginnings of a literary tradition (although there was a spike, never seen since, around independence)?  Not one single collective government or prime minister has given the remotest thought to literature in Papua New Guinea.  Truly amazing!

But that’s how governments are, you say.  They’ve got more important things to worry about, literature will have to wait.  If we want to do something about literature in this country someone else will have to do it.  Even though it should be the government, it just doesn’t care enough.

So who is this someone else?  There is always someone else in Papua New Guinea when it comes to owning problems.  Who is it this time?  The answer is, ‘there is no one else’, simple as that!  Why?  Because there’s no profit in it!

Think about it and you will realise that the government is the only one who can fix the problem.

It has to set up its own independent publishing arm.  It has to publish at least 10 new books a year without fear or favour and without undue censorship.  It has to make sure the books get distributed all over Papua New Guinea.  It has to make sure that every kid in Papua New Guinea has access to Papua New Guinean literature. 

The government has to take the initiative; no one else can do it.  It has to spend kina capital to earn social capital.  It has to forget about making profits or lining the pockets of some public servant.

In return, it will reap huge rewards.  The intelligentsia, the elites and the common people will laud a government that does it and come in behind it.  It will create national solidarity. 

People will learn to be Papua New Guineans first and Engas, Hulis and Motuans second.  Every child who reads a book about PNG, be it fact or fiction, will see the government publisher’s imprint and be proud of their far-thinking politicians who made it possible.

Someone has to tell them to get started as soon as possible.  Who should that ‘someone’ be?  The answer is ‘you’. 

That’s right; if you’re reading this now when you are finished you must write a letter to your local member.  If you live close enough go and knock on their door and tell them to their face.  Write a letter to the prime minister; let him know what you think.

It’s up to you.  That’s right, you!  The person sitting reading this.  Go do it now, before it’s too late!

Comments

[Phil Fitzpatrick]

First things first Dr Braun. SWEP is not yet a fully functional entity. That will take place shortly in Port Moresby with the election of officer bearers.

The following day there will be a workshop from which will flow an action plan, which may or may not include the matter of a venue.

The spirit of that workshop, we hope, will reflect Corney's assertion that "Papua New Guineans must own this thing. Over reliance on outsiders to do this thing for us is a backward self-defeating mindset".

In my view the "rich benefactor" has to be the PNG government. It has to not only cough up the money but also acknowledge that it has been remiss in the past.

In the meantime your evening eloquences are much appreciated, as are those of Harry Topham. Ideas have as much currency as kina in PNG.

[Corney K. Alone]

PNG society is known for sharing and caring, however little it may be.

That spirit is demonstrated in a bag of local food brought to Port Moresby by some folks travelling out of the city for duties, being shared among many households.

Haus Krai or funerals do see this in action as well – in helping to send coffins home for burial.

Now, in documenting and preserving the thoughts, challenges and mementoes of the nation – our children and grandchildren will appreciate this.

The African continent has a lot of books written and kept by their own citizens.

Papua New Guineans must own this thing. Over reliance on outsiders to do this thing for us is a backward self-defeating mindset.

We can do this by transferring, K10, K20, K50 etc online to a Book Writing Project Bank Account. It is a honourable thing the sons and daughters of PNG can do for our country.

Of course, the Project Managers will have to account for generous assistances like this – can be done easily online with records of transactions etc without having to wait for some AGM – only to realise that, there’s no trace of the dime left and people failing to show up in meetings to avoid being put on the spot.

[Harry Topham]

Excuse my frivolity but fired up with enthusiasm after recently attending a brainstorming exercise resulting from my involvement with our local botanical garden group trying to compile our next 5 year strategic plan, the old grey cells got a thinking.

Whilst your efforts regarding the crocodile literary competition is nothing short of remarkable, I wondered?

Have you ever thought of perhaps including another section to the list that might encompass that most critical of true thought- Cartoons.

You might recall that in earlier bipo taims, PNG produced some very good cartoonists.

I note with some sadness that the local rags in PNG no longer include such examples of satire in any of their publications.

Why I wonder, is satire alien to the PNG mindset or is it something else?

Maybe if not felt to be worthy of inclusion on the Crocodile section may be the issue could be initiated as a special feature elsewhere on your blog.

Food for thought?

[Keith Jackson]

The Crocodile Prize has two major requirements: (a) cold hard cash and (b) cool efficient organisation.

Both have been achieved to some extent with (a) K100,000 raised this year to fund the Prize itself and get 3,000 books printed and (b) the establishment of the PNG Society of Writers, Editors and Publishers to administer the Prize and its many associated activities.

But there is nothing that will resolve the issue of industrial strength production of a home-grown PNG books for home-grown readers better than funding.

The truth is that technological or skills driven solutions all demand a more complex infrastructure, whether technological or organisational.

What has been achieved thus far is the result of voluntary organisation facilitated by the internet. It is highly likely to continue in this mode for many years yet.

The Croc Prize is very modern in concept and execution. It is a virtual organisation that has highly tangible and measurable outcomes.

But, I'm afraid, its need for money is very old fashioned.

That said, we move into the 2012 awards on Tuesday week looking forward to even greater support and success as we look forward to the 2013 program.

[Harry Topham]

Phil, OK Plan A has been a wash out, so maybe Plan B. Buy the Writers Society a good printer and knock out as many copies as needed?

Maybe AusAID will come to the party with a subsidy, a good HD laser printer can be had for $2,000 tops.

Maybe the copies wont be to the the high hardback standard but as least it will get produced.

Don't be disheartened, all that is needed is a bit of resolve and a little bit of enthusiasm maybe but if old Henry could do it with a thumb dipped in tar then there you go.

[Phil Fitzpatrick]

I checked that out last year Harry.

No paper, no computers, no printers, no internet and no one to pay the postage or freight.

[Harry Topham]

Without wanting to sound naive, maybe just burn copies to CD format and distribute to schools.

Might give the students a bit of a challenge and attaching ownership to then print copies out for distribution?

Now don't start me off about not having paper, a ream of A4 only costs $5.

[Laurence Quinlivan]

How about taking a small first step and following the example of successes in history.

I believe there was a very successful team who produced the "Kundiawa News" (no names mentioned) out of a local school. Even made money to build and equip the school library.

If that model could be replicated over many Provinces what a chance to encourage and expose local writers.

[Mrs Barbara Short]

We need a rich PNG benefactor! What's his name, the rich gambler, might like to help.

[Phil Fitzpatrick]

We would be more than happy to hand over the manuscripts for both the 2011 and 2012 Crocodile anthologies to the government at no cost so that it can print up a big batch and send them out to all the schools in Papua New Guinea.

We made the same offer last year and I personally trekked around various government offices making sure they knew about it.

Plenty of encouraging noises and I collected a swag of business cards.

Result? Zero.

[Mrs Barbara Short]

Good on you Phil!

When I published "Tuum Est - the History of Keravat National High School 1947-1986" back in 2009, I found out that the costs of having it printed in PNG were too high.

So I had it printed locally in Sydney and sent them up by sea. They were then sold by the Keravat Alumni at round about the cost for the printing and shipping.

A few were sold by the UPNG bookshop but the rest, as far as I know, were sold privately. The remainder have ended up at the National Library and people can buy copies from there and eventually the rest will be distributed to school libraries.

I know the Education Department are involved with producing books for the schools and various people throughout PNG have produced books but the costs are high and the distribution is very poor.

I agree with you. This is something that the government should be doing.

Sir Paulias Matane has been running a one-man band encouraging writers for many years and producing many books himself.

But it is hard to buy copies. I contact the writer and ask for a copy but never get one.

I know of one bookshop owner who left the country in disgust with piles of money owing to him by all and sundry, including the Education Department.

Let's hope that all these PNG writers we are reading on PNG Attitude, and the new organisation that is being set up, will lead to the establishment of a new home-grown book publisher that will ensure the future of writing and book production in PNG.