Christina Thompson is best known for her book ''Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia'', which won the 2020 Australian Prime Minister's Literary Award for Nonfiction.

Career

Christina Thompson was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, and grew up outside of Boston. She received her bachelor's degree in English, Phi Beta Kappa, from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

in 1981 and her Ph.D. in English from

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

in 1990. From 1994 to 1998 she was editor of

Meanjin ''Meanjin'' (), formerly ''Meanjin Papers'' and ''Meanjin Quarterly'', is one of Australia's longest-running literary magazines. Established in 1940 in Brisbane, it moved to Melbourne in 1945 and as of 2008 is an editorially independent impri ...

, one of Australia's leading literary journals. The editor of ''

Harvard Review ''Harvard Review'' is a biannual literary journal published by Houghton Library at Harvard University. History In 1986 Stratis Haviaras, curator of the Woodberry Poetry Room at Harvard University, founded a quarterly periodical called ''Erato ...

'' since 2000, she teaches in the Writing Program at Harvard University Extension, where she was awarded the James E. Conway Teaching Writing Award in 2008. Her first book, a memoir called '' Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All,'' was published in July 2008 by

Bloomsbury USA Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. Bloomsbury's head office is located on Bedford Square in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a US publishing office located in ...

''.'' The story of the cultural collision between Westerners and the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, it was a finalist for the 2009 NSW Premier's Literary Award and the 2010

William Saroyan International Prize for Writing The William Saroyan International Prize for Writing is a biennial literary award for fiction and nonfiction in the spirit of William Saroyan by emerging writers. It was established by Stanford University Libraries and the William Saroyan Foundation ...

. Her second book, '' Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia,'' is a history of Polynesian voyaging. Published March 12, 2019 by

Harper Harper may refer to: Names * Harper (name), a surname and given name and place names, for example: Harper Islands, Nunavut. Places ;in Canada * Harper Islands, Nunavut * Harper, Prince Edward Island ;In the United States *Harper, former name ...

, it won the 2020 Australian Prime Minister's Literary Award for Nonfiction, the 2020

Victorian Premier's Literary Award The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary ...

, and the 2019

New South Wales Premier's History Awards The NSW Premier's History Awards honour distinguished achievement in the interpretation of history, through both the written word and non-print media by Australian citizens and permanent residents of Australia. History The State Government of New ...

, and was a finalist for the 2020

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

Ralph Waldo Emerson Award, the 2019 Mountbatten Maritime Award, the 2019 Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award and the 2019

Queensland Literary Award The Queensland Literary Awards is an awards program established in 2012 by the Queensland literary community, funded by sponsors and administered by the State Library of Queensland. Like the former Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, the QLAs ...

. Her awards and fellowships include a Public Scholar Award from the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, a Literature Fellowship from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

, and grants from

Australia Council Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announ ...

, Arts Victoria, the Institute of International Education, and the Australian Federation of University Women. She is married to Tauwhitu Parangi, a member of the Ngāti Rēhia hapu of the Ngāpuhi iwi of Aotearoa/New Zealand, with whom she has three sons.

Bibliography

Books

* ''Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All'' (2008, Bloomsbury) * ''Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia'' (2019, Harper)

Articles

"Skewing Male,"
''Daily Scholar'', Nov. 14, 2020 * “Some Kind of Kin,” ''Orion'', Summer 2019, vol. 38, no. 2 * “Robert Louis Stevenson’s South Pacific Voyage,” ''BBC World Histories'', 16, June/July 2019
“The Ritual of Renewal,”
''Daily Scholar'', Apr. 10, 2019

''New York Times'', Mar. 29, 2019
“Down the Research Rat Hole,”
''JSTOR Daily'', Dec. 20, 2018
“Lay Your Sleeping Head, My Love,”
''Paris Review Daily'', May 27, 2013

''Essay Daily'', Sep. 27, 2013

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Christina Living people Australian non-fiction writers Dartmouth College alumni University of Melbourne alumni Meanjin people Year of birth missing (living people) Harvard Extension School faculty