Writer Winnie Dunn on identity and the meaning of homecoming

Winnie Dunn is the General Manager of Sweatshop Literacy Movement. Here she tells the story of how family and writing brought her home to Tonga, and gave Winnie the power to launch herself into the world on her own terms.

Winnie grew up between her father and stepmother's house and the home of her grandmother — a brick home in Mount Druitt called the house of fe'ofa'aki, meaning “to love one another”.

For years, Winnie's Tongan identity made her uneasy and instead of being a homecoming, her first trip to Tonga as a teenager was a disaster.

Over time her understanding of what it means to be Pacific Islander evolved, and at the age of 28, she became the first Tongan-Australian to have a novel published.

Further information

Dirt Poor Islanders is published by Hachette

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