Valentine Namio Sengebau (c. 1941–2000) was a poet from

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

. He lived on the island of

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

in the

Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...

. There is a poetry competition with his name which is open to middle school and high school students, and aims to support young poets. Sengebau wrote poems discussing the personal, political and cultural life in

Micronesia Micronesia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, consisting of about 2,000 small islands in the western Pacific Ocean. It has a close shared cultural history with three other island regions: the Philippines to the west, Polynesia to the east, and ...

. Following his death, an anthology of his work was published by the Northern Marianas Humanities Council. His niece is the activist

Siobhon McManus Siobhon Rumurang McManus is a Palauan-Chamorro teacher and peace activist based in Guam. In 2017 she led opposition to the construction of a new missile defence system by the US government. When speaking about the 2017 protests against America ...

Works

*"Microchild"

References

Palauan writers 1941 births 2000 deaths 20th-century poets People from Saipan {{Palau-bio-stub