Marina Alefosio

2023 Cohort

Pronouns: she/her

Marina is developing an international residency for Pasifika and Indigenous spoken word artists and practitioners to strengthen their voice, leadership capability and connection to culture.

Marina is an Aotearoa-born Samoan poet based in South Auckland, and hailing from the villages of Mulifanua, Leauva’a, Faleasiú and Falefa. She has worked over a decade with the artforms of spoken word; hip hop and theatre and is passionate about using the arts as a way to serve her community with a focus on youth and women’s groups. She has performed spoken word poetry and music both locally and internationally for varied events including Nuyorican Poets Café New York 2012; TedX Auckland 2013; Adelaide Fringe Festival 2016; Toronto Writers Festival 2021 and most recently at the Dawn Raids Apology Ceremony by the NZ Government in Auckland 2021. She was awarded two artist residencies with the Banff Creative Arts Institute in Canada in 2019, and with Tautai Arts Trust in 2021. She has co-written three theatre shows with the Black Friars Theatre Company from 2018-2021 and released her first song, "We Want the Dawn" on all music streaming platforms. Her poetry has been published in anthologies with a short story published in the IKA 4 Journal with the Manukau Institute of Technology.

“Enabling Pasifika and Indigenous communities to envision a bright future by the power of their voice and the spirit of their genealogy.”

Social change work

Marina’s social change work is to develop an international residency for Pasifika and Indigenous spoken word artists and practitioners to strengthen their voice, leadership capability and connection to culture.