Interview: J. A. Vili talks about AUP New Poets 11

J. A. Vili is an Auckland-based poet of Samoan descent whose poetry often advocates for suicide prevention and mental illness support. He dedicates poems to friends and to his children who lost their mother at a young age. Vili holds a bachelor of creative writing. His poems have appeared in Ika journal and Katūīvei: Contemporary Pasifika Poetry from Aotearoa New Zealand.

Tell us a little about your poems in AUP New Poets 11.

They are dedications to family and friends I have lost over the years away from poetry.

Tributes to my children who lost their mother at a young age and due to my advocacy for suicide prevention and mental health support, there are also poems that reflect these issues.

What inspired you to write your collection of poems?

There is a 25-year gap between my poetry and I thought about what I had gained in that time and the only thing that mattered were my children. And as for what I had lost, well that’s where family, friends and “Poems Lost During The Void,” came about.

What was your routine or process when writing your collection?

Most of these poems were gifts at funerals and then thrown into the graves. They were short and all rhymed, so my process was trying to remember the main core of them and expanding the poems to narrate a more personal experience that affected the families.

If a soundtrack was made to accompany this book, name a song or two you would include.

“In The Arms Of An Angel,” by Sarah McLachlan is suitable due to the leading lady losing her life in a car accident. I have always known “Say Something,” by A Great Big World is a break-up song, but it always affects me as a suicide song and the chorus especially intensifies that feeling.

If you had to choose a favourite poem from your collection, what would it be, and why?

I don’t know about favourite, but it means the most to my kids. “Your Tangi,” was written for my children on the 10th anniversary of their mothers’ passing. At his mothers’ tangi, my son was 4 years old and thought she was just sleeping, so he didn’t cry, while my daughter 5 years old at the time cried, as she knew her mother wouldn’t wake up again. This poem is a taonga to my children.

What did you enjoy the most about writing these poems?

It was a journey of fond memories, taking out the anger and darkness from some of the poems was all part of a healing process, forgiveness was a main factor in completing this collection.

What is the favourite book you have read so far this year and why?

Moth Hour by Anne Kennedy. It was just great to have another perspective from another poet writing a tribute to their loved ones’ passing. It was a wonderful respite from my own writing on the subject and always reminds me of poetry’s restorative nature.

What’s next on the agenda for you?

A new subject to explore and to really try to move my voice forward to be more contemporary. Also, I would like to write a children’s book about a poem I couldn’t finish about a child with cancer.

Auckland University Press