Manoa Honored in The Best American Essays 2009

Gates of Reconciliation: Literature and the Ethical Imagination (issue 20:1 of Manoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing) has been named a Notable Special Issue in The Best American Essays 2009, edited by Mary Oliver. The 2009 edition of the anthology series, which selects outstanding nonfiction published in the country’s most prestigious magazine and literary journals, also includes two selections from Gates of Reconciliation: “Pollen: An Ode” by Christopher Cokinos and “One Story House” by Rebecca Solnit.

This is the seventh time Manoa has been recognized nationally for excellence. It has been honored in the annuals The Best American Poetry, The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Science and Nature Writing, and The O. Henry Awards: Best Stories of the Year. Manoa is published by University of Hawai‘i Press and sponsored by the University of Hawai‘i’s Department of English.

The Spectacle of Japanese American Trauma Honored

The Spectacle of Japanese American Trauma: Racial Performativity and World War II, by Emily Roxworthy, garnered an Honorable Mention for Outstanding Research in Theatre History from the Barnard Hewitt Award committee, American Society for Theatre Research. The award is presented each year to the best book in “theatre history or cognate disciplines” published during the previous calendar year.

Thanksgiving Holiday Schedule

University of Hawai‘i Press will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday from November 26–29 and reopen on Monday, November 30. Please plan your book orders accordingly.

Gossip and the Everyday Production of Politics Now Available in Paperback

Although gossip is disapproved of across the world’s societies, it is a prominent feature of sociality, whose role in the construction of society and culture cannot be overestimated. In particular, gossip is central to the enactment of politics: through it people transform difference into inequality and enact or challenge power structures. Based on the author’s intimate ethnographic knowledge of Nukulaelae Atoll, Tuvalu, Gossip and the Everyday Production of Politics, by Niko Besnier, uses an analysis of gossip as political action to develop a holistic understanding of a number of disparate themes, including conflict, power, agency, morality, emotion, locality, belief, and gender. It brings together two methodological traditions—the microscopic analysis of unelicited interaction and the macroscopic interpretation of social practice—that are rarely wedded successfully.

November 2009 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3357-2 / $25.00 (PAPER)

Tour of Duty Now Available in Paperback

“[Constantine] Vaporis has written a magnificent book on the sankai kotai, or alternate attendance system. . . . Long considered the central political control mechanism of the Tokugawa period, the system has received surprisingly little scholarly attention until now. Filling a major gap in the understanding of Japanese history, the author provides a detailed account of the mechanics of the system and demands placed on daimyo and retainers on tours of duty in Edo. Exploiting the latest archaeological and archival sources, Vaporis makes clear the economic burden of the system on the daimyo, as well as its role as an engine of cultural, intellectual, and material exchange, from the center in Edo and between regions. The author also provides intimate details of the lives of samurai, both on the road to and from Edo and while serving their time in Edo. For all interested in early modern history. . . . Highly recommended.” —Choice

November 2009 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3470-8 / $23.00 (PAPER)

New Edition of Integrated Korean Beginning 1

This is a thoroughly revised edition of Integrated Korean: Beginning 1, the first volume of the best-selling series developed collaboratively by leading classroom teachers and linguists of Korean. In response to comments from hundreds of students and instructors of the first edition, the new edition features a more attractive two-color design with all new photos and drawings and an additional lesson and vocabulary exercises. Lessons are now organized into two main sections, each containing a conversational text (with its own vocabulary list) and a reading passage. The accompanying workbook, newly written, provides students with extensive skill-using activities based on the skills learned in the main text.

Integrated Korean series
November 2009 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3440-1 / $28.00 (PAPER)

Audio files for both the textbook and workbook may be downloaded in RealAudio or MP3 format at http://www.kleartextbook.com.