University of Hawai‘i Press will be among the local publishers participating in this year’s Hawaii Book and Music Festival, to be held this weekend, May 17-18, 10 am-5 pm, at Honolulu Hale. Admission and parking are free to the general public.

UH Press authors Jon Van Dyke (Who Owns the Crown Lands of Hawai‘i), Davianna McGregor (Na Kua‘aina: Living Hawaiian Culture), Arthur Rath (Lost Generations: A Boy, a School, a Princess), Ben Finney (Vaka Moana, Voyages of the Ancestors: The Discovery and Settlement of the Pacific), Stephanie Feeney (Sun and Rain: Exploring Seasons in Hawai‘i), and Jonathan Osorio (Dismembering Lahui: A History of the Hawaiian Nation to 1887) will be signing copies of their books at the Press tent (see schedule below):

Saturday, May 17, 11:00 am
Davianna McGregor, Jon Van Dyke

Sunday, May 18, 11:00 am
Arthur Rath

Sunday, May 18, 12:00 noon
Stephanie Feeney, Ben Finney

Sunday, May 18, 2:00 pm
Jonathan Osorio

In Melanesia, rates of HIV infection are among the highest in the Pacific and increasing rapidly, with grave humanitarian, development, and political implications. There is a great need for social research on HIV/AIDS in the region to provide better insights into the sensitive issues surrounding HIV transmission. Making Sense of AIDS: Culture, Sexuality, and Power in Melanesia, edited by Leslie Butt and Richard Eves, is the first book on HIV and AIDS in the Pacific region. It gathers together stunning and original accounts of the often surprising ways that people make sense of the AIDS epidemic in various parts of Melanesia. The volume addresses substantive issues concerning AIDS and contemporary sexualities, relations of power, and moralities—themes that provide a powerful backdrop for twenty-first century understandings of the tensions between sexuality, religion, and politics in many parts of the world.

“This is a powerful and courageous anthology. One of its great strengths is the powerful ethnography of sexuality contained in many of these essays, making it extremely timely. It shows that anthropology is alive, that the work of culture in confronting the myriad terrors of an incurable disease is daunting and fearful but part of the human condition that needs reporting in these societies. The essays are original and in some cases truly unique. Making Sense of AIDS contains extremely valuable, interesting, and important contributions.” —Gilbert Herdt, Center for Human Sexuality Studies, San Francisco State University

May 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3249-0 / $27.00 (PAPER)

Herself an Author: Gender, Agency, and Writing in Late Imperial China, by Grace S. Fong, addresses the critical question of how to approach the study of women’s writing. It explores various methods of engaging in a meaningful way with a rich corpus of poetry and prose written by women of the late Ming and Qing periods, much of it rediscovered by the author in rare book collections in China and the United States. The volume treats different genres of writing and includes translations of texts that are made available for the first time in English. Among the works considered are the life-long poetic record of Gan Lirou, the lyrical travel journal kept by Wang Fengxian, and the erotic poetry of the concubine Shen Cai.

“Grace Fong has written a wonderful history of female writers’ participation in the elite conventions of Chinese poetics. Fong’s recovery of many of these poets, her able exegesis and elegant, analytical grasp of what the poets were doing is a great read, and her bilingual presentation of their poetry gives the book additional power. This is a persuasive and elegant study.” —Tani Barlow, author of The Question of Women in Chinese Feminism

May 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3186-8 / $32.00 (PAPER)

A thousand years after Hawaiians first paddled long wooden boards into the ocean, modern surfers have continued this practice, which has recently been transformed into a global industry. Pacific Passages: An Anthology of Surf Writing, edited by Patrick Moser, brings together four centuries of writing about surfing, the most comprehensive collection of Polynesian and Western perspectives on the history and culture of a sport currently enjoyed by millions of people around the world. The stories begin with Hawaiian legends and chants and are followed by the journals of explorers; the travel narratives of missionaries and luminaries such as Herman Melville, Mark Twain, and Jack London; and the contemporary observations of Tom Wolfe, William Finnegan, Susan Orlean, and Bob Shacochis.

May 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3155-4 / $32.00 (PAPER)

Beijing Opera Costumes: The Visual Communication of Character and Culture, by Alexandra B. Bonds, is the first in-depth English-language book focused exclusively on the costumes of Jingju, the highest form of stage arts in China. This comprehensive volume provides both theory and analysis of the costumes and the method of their selection for the roles as well as technical information on embroidery, patterns, and construction. Extensive descriptions illuminate the use of colors and surface images derived from historical dress and modified for the stage. Details on makeup, hairstyles, and dressing techniques present a complete view of the Jingju performer from head to toe.

“This book is a very detailed and thorough examination of costuming (including make-up) in traditional Beijing opera as practiced today. The author has combined her expertise in costume design in general with extensive fieldwork and consultation in China. Because of the highly developed role-type system in Beijing opera and the premium put on visually distinguishing these role types on stage, costuming and make-up in Beijing opera are simultaneously very complicated, very full of meaning, and very worth paying attention to. This book, with its ample illustrations and clear structure, is an excellent guide to the symbolic systems used to differentiate characters on the Beijing opera stage, and, given the comparative lack in Beijing opera of scenery on the one hand and emphasis on the actor on the other, it could also be said to represent a guide to the visual world of Beijing opera in general. It is the only book of its kind in English, and it is very hard to conceive of it being surpassed any time soon.” —David Rolston, University of Michigan

April 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-2956-8 / $50.00 (CLOTH)

Nippon Modern: Japanese Cinema of the 1920s and 1930s, by Mitsuyo Wada-Marciano, is now available in paperback.

“Nippon Modern will be recognized as one of the core books of Japanese film studies, a must-read for anyone interested in Japanese cinema. Because it brings Japanese cinema study into dialogue with important debates in history, area studies, and post colonial studies, it should have a wide and heterogeneous readership that will be attracted to its compelling analysis of important films and straightforward narration of biographies and studio history.” —Abé Mark Nornes, University of Michigan

April 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3240-7 / $27.00 (PAPER)

University of Hawai‘i Press will be participating in the 13th Annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, “the country’s largest celebration of the written word,” on April 26–27.

Leading off the festival will be an awards ceremony honoring recipients of the 2007 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, including the Kirsch Award, which honors a living author with a substantial connection to the American West and whose contribution to American letters deserves special recognition. Maxine Hong Kingston has been named the award’s 28th recipient. The Press is the publisher of Ms. Kingston’s memoir, Hawai‘i One Summer.

The April 28, 2008 special issue of The Nation explores the annexation of Hawai‘i by the United States and questions of sovereignty and indigenous rights that persist today. (Click here to view the articles available at The Nation’s web site.) Elinor Langer, the author of the lead article, “Famous Are the Flowers: Hawaiian Resistance Then—and Now,” also compiled an extensive reading and resources list that includes these University of Hawai‘i Press titles:

The Hawaiian Kingdom by Ralph S. Kuykendall
Volume 1: Foundation and Transformation, 1778—1854
Volume 2: Twenty Critical Years, 1854–1874
Volume 3: The Kalakaua Dynasty, 1874–1893

“The indispensable work of traditional Hawaiian historiography.” —The Nation

Na Kua‘aina: Living Hawaiian Culture by Daviana Pomaika‘i McGregor

“Indispensable.” —The Nation

“A bold intervention in modern Hawaiian politics, a summoning to the barricades that by its end will have you cheering. Na Kua‘aina is the inspiring story of a culture that refuses to die, of a resurgent nation poised to reclaim its embattled heritage. . . . This is no dry-as-dust tome destined for library basements, but a solidly grounded set of political demands cast in historical mode. It is good research leading to intellectually honest conclusions with real-world applications.” —Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Dismembering Lahui: A History of the Hawaiian Nation to 1887 by Jonathan K. K. Osorio

“Indispensable.” —The Nation

“Profound scholarship that examines neglected sources and adds a new dimension to our understanding of the Hawaiian past.” —The Contemporary Pacific

Who Owns the Crown Lands of Hawai‘i by Jon M. Van Dyke

“Definitive. Who Owns the Crown Lands of Hawai‘i? [is] certain to become the standard reference for that question.” —The Nation

“Fascinating. . . . Deeply researched. . . . Adds a new and thought-provoking dimension on a debate that has too often boiled down into simplistic arguments.” —Honolulu Advertiser

From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai‘i (Revised Edition) by Haunani K. Trask

“One of the strongest and most influential texts of the sovereignty movement.” —The Nation

“This book is not for the politically squeamish. It is a blueprint for sovereignty movements that aims at fueling the collective memory of a people.” —Pacific Affairs

Faith and Power in Japanese Buddhist Art, 1600-2005, by Patricia J. Graham, is now available in paperback.

“This book is densely written and copiously illustrated, rich with evidence that Buddhist art has thrived over the last four hundred years and continues to do so. One of the book’s many contributions is how it traces the widening patronage of Buddhist art, which helped to create and support a new class of Buddhist artists and appreciation for their art beyond the walls of the Buddhist temples.” —Buddhadharma

April 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3191-2 / $29.00 (PAPER)

Soto Zen in Medieval Japan, by William M. Bodiford, is now available in paperback.

“Carefully researched and set forth with finesse, Bodiford’s study advances dramatically our understanding of the introduction and development of Zen in Japan. . . . [This] is the most important English work on Soto Zen to date; it is a ‘must’ for any student, scholar, or practitioner interested in the genesis and early development of this important strand of Japanese Buddhism.” —Journal of Japanese Studies

Studies in East Asian Buddhism, No. 8
Published in association with the Kuroda Institute
April 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3303-9 / $28.00 (PAPER)