The writer as an outsider *

Tracing the path that led to his becoming a creative writer, the author of this reflective essay points out how he came to adopt an anti‐Establishment stance, when, with his writings attracting critical attention, he came to be co‐opted by the Establishment itself as one belonging to the Clite group that is supposed to be contributing to the emergence of new literature in the Pacific. Making a case for a writer to be an outsider, the author convincingly explains how the outsider's viewpoint offers a sense of detachment which facilitates the observation and recording of the sense of hollowness and futility that tie behind the seriousness of our day‐to‐day activities. He concludes by emphasising the importance of auditory qualities in speech in the Pacific and its impact on his own style of writing.