The Ocean on Fire

“In The Ocean on Fire, Anaïs Maurer brings together an impressive archive of primary and secondary sources to highlight the underexamined field of Pacific literature through two of the most urgent and profound issues: nuclearism and climate change. Maurer’s deep knowledge of Pacific culture, history, politics, and ecologies is especially welcome in her analysis of the creative works she studies.” - Craig Santos Perez, author of Navigating CHamoru Poetry: Indigeneity, Aesthetics, and Decolonization

“Anaïs Maurer has got it right. A searingly accurate account of an ocean and peoples blasted in three places by foreign powers’ past nuclear tests and now facing climate change. Her carefully chosen and multilingual translations of works by nuclear survivors and climate activists from several Pacific countries, and particularly the nuclear test countries, give us the real feelings of Pacific peoples on the nuclear tests and climate change. This is powerful Pacific Island literature that all should read.” - Vanessa Griffen, PhD, author and Fiji antinuclear campaigner

“This is an important and timely book that assists in the ongoing calls from the Pacific to acknowledge that the region as still inhabited, still politically active, and still resisting—not drowning but fighting. . . . For those interested in climate justice and a liveable world, or a world of life, the Pacific should be leading the way. Maurer’s conclusion is powerful, reminding us that this is not a book about solutions to environmental collapse, but about insisting on life.”
  - Charlotte Kate Weatherill, Antipode

"What scientists predict as the future consequences of climate collapse, Pacific people have already experienced. Over the course of her stunning monograph, Anaïs Maurer contends that these experiences—with nothing less than apocalypse—offer lessons we desperately need in the face of ongoing environmental ruin."  - Aanchal Saraf, Apocalyptica

"While this book should surely be praised for its extensive analysis across and between nuclearization and climate change in the Pacific, The Ocean on Fire also makes a significant contribution to contemporary Pacific literary history and its highlighting of Indigenous environmental epistemologies of the Pacific." - Rebecca H. Hogue, ISLE

"Maurer’s text contributes to the ongoing effort in Pacific studies to dismantle the academic hierarchies of history-telling and knowledge production, which tend to prioritize written texts. . . . It offers an exciting framework for how to meaningfully integrate visual studies and art history with the literary arts." - Maggie Wander, CAA.Reviews

"The Ocean on Fire by Anaïs Maurer is a stimulating and passionate work... capturing insights from a diverse range of creative leaders across the Pacific islands. It also throws out a challenge, arguing that we must meld culture, art and agitation to address the global crises that threaten livelihoods, environment and culture across the region." - N. Maclellan, The Australian Journal of Anthropology

"This potent and beautiful book by Ana?s Maurer is a much-needed bridge connecting communities, the imperial outsourcing of destruction, and the arts-based activism of Pacific Islanders over generations." - Holly M. Barker, Pacific Affairs

"[Maurer's work] reflects the usefulness of understandings that can be drawn from multiple forms of texts, from poetry and prose to protest speeches and artworks." - Jess Pasisi, Prose Studies

"[The Ocean on Fire] presents a much-needed warning and moral compass." - Laura Rose Brown, International Affairs