User:Chocmilk03/Vernice Wineera

Vernice Wineera Pere (born 1938) is a New Zealand Hawaiian poet.

Wineera was born in Wellington in 1938. She has Māori, English and French ancestors, and is of Ngāti Toa and Ngāti Raukawa descent. Since 1960 she has lived in Lāʻie, Hawaii. She holds a bachelor of arts in English from Brigham Young University–Hawaii. She has seven children.

In 1978 she was the first Māori woman to publish a book of poetry, with Mahanga: Pacific Poems. Alice Te Punga Somerville describes it as "packed full of rich, lively, compelling poetry".

In 1979 she edited the anthology Ka Poʻe o Laʻie.

She has had poetry published in New Zealand literary magazines Te Ao Hou and Marae. Her work was included in the anthology Into the World of Light edited by Witi Ihimaera and Don Long.

In 1981 she won first prize in the poetry section of the South Pacific Festival of Arts literary competition. At this time she was working as a cultural researcher and writer at the Polynesian Cultural Center. She said of her art:

"My maoritanga and my Polynesian heritage is the vital element in my work. I see the Pacific as an extended marae that is rich in culture and I try to express this in poetry and art that reveals the universals in human experience."

Selected works

 * Mahanga: Pacific Poems (poetry collection, 1978)
 * Editor of Ka Poʻe o Laʻie (anthology, 1979)