My Little Ship, Forever at Sea

Polina was brought to New Zealand as a 10-year-old by her parents, from the cold Sheremetyevo airport to the heat and exotic green vegetation of the Land of the Long White Cloud. Her life has been lived in a dual form ever since – all this time she continued to hold onto the expansive wild landscapes of Russia, while marvelling at the tug of the Piha coast and the bright clean sunlight. Polina explores this duality as a hybrid identity of an immigrant, paying attention to both her own story while also exploring those of Auckland’s Russian community, her immediate family and friends. She shows that starting life from a zero, accumulating possessions and learning a new language are not the most vital things for an immigrant, but rather in her experience it is a deeper connection with the surrounding environment which opens a true and genuine conversation with the spirit of the land. This spirit has hummed a tune for Polina’s integration into the new society, under the auspices of her parents and other figures, whom she observed and had known, to now present her story about one of today’s most vital topics – immigration and identity.

Polina Kouzminova is a Russian-born, New Zealand-raised poet and writer. She released a poetry collection An Echo Where You Lie (Mākaro Press, 2016), which was followed by a number of stage performances. She completed her Master’s degree in language teaching and had taught in France, and then travelled around New York, Australia, Hong Kong and Russia’s smaller cities. My Little Ship, Forever at Sea is Polina’s first full-length novel, which was born from her travel experiences and life growing up as an immigrant.