Emerging from more than two decades of research in the field and in the archives, the essays collected here explore the multifaceted topic of the Fijian firewalking ceremony, the vilavilairevo. The collection examines the intersection of the intertwined topics of cultural property, reproduction of tradition, and change with issues of (post)colonial representation, authenticity, and ethnic identity. The essays advance new insights on the tourist gaze and the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage and pose serious questions regarding the role of digital and social media as tools for preserving cultural legacies and extending traditional cultural worlds into new domains. Focusing on the response of the Sawau tribe of the island of Beqa to the commodification of the vilavilairevo as their iconic practice, this essay collection ultimately illuminates how the Christian cultural dynamics and unprecedented dogmatic schism surrounding the vilavilairevo spectacle are reshaping local notions of heritage, social sentiment, and social capital.

In 1997, the murder of her daughter Ciara left a mother and her family shattered by grief. Ciara's Gift, expressed with honesty and insight, is the story of the mother's often lonely search for meaning after this cruel and devastating event.

When the global pandemic hit Melbourne in March 2020, Frances Prince resolved to spend her afternoons in lockdown reading to David, her 95-year-old father. The books they explored together revived David's memories of his own Holocaust experiences and his life as a Polish Jewish university student in post-war Munich. As the days passed, what began as a reading project to fill the time, turned into an unexpected and rewarding journey of discovery.