Holiday Group Signing with Award-winning UH Press Authors

In the spirit of saving the best for last—yet in time for holiday shopping—on Saturday, December 20, 2 to 5 p.m., a trio of notable Hawai‘i authors, each of whom have a new release this fall, will appear in a group signing at Native Books/Nā Mea Hawai‘i.

The three participants are all seasoned authors, each having previously published multiple titles with UH Press:

John R. K. Clark will sign North Shore Place Names: Kahuku to Ka‘ena (paperback, $25.00). In his ninth book, Clark takes the reader on a historical tour of the North Shore of O‘ahu and uncovers the everyday lives of the residents, especially prior to the plantation era. An enormous number of references to specific North Shore locations are presented in an easy-to-use dictionary-style format, which includes original passages in Hawaiian with English translations by Keao NeSmith.

Marion Coste will sign Hawai‘i’s Animals Do the Most Amazing Things! (ages 8 and up; hardback, $14.99). Hawai‘i is home to a fascinating array of animals, most of which are found nowhere else in the world. In her fifth book with UH Press, Coste provides factual information on many of these native birds, marine life, insects, and other native animals that have developed unusual adaptations to help them survive. The colorful book is illustrated by Kona resident Rena Ekmanis.

Susan Scott will sign Call Me Captain: A Memoir of a Woman at Sea (paperback, $19.99). In a departure from her previous natural science titles, Scott’s latest is a personal account of her mid-life crisis when she was challenged by life’s transition and a failing marriage. With a mix of candor, humor, and wit, she navigates through her period of being “menopausally nuts” and her decision to sail to Palmyra Atoll—without her husband—and emerges with both a stronger sense of self and a strengthened relationship.

Everyone is invited to come by to meet these authors at a table just outside the store entrance. Books will be sold inside the shop for customers to have signed by the authors at the outside table. This is a great chance to wrap up your holiday shopping in one place!

John Rosa Presents Backstory to Local Story, His Book on the Massie-Kahahawai Case

AUTHOR EVENT

Please join us on Sunday, August 10, 2 to 4 p.m., at Native Books/Nā Mea Hawai‘i, as UH-Mānoa history professor John Rosa gives an illustrated talk on his book, Local Story: The Massie-Kahahawai Case and the Culture of History. He will discuss how he researched the book and why the 1931-1932 case continues to have relevance in today’s Hawai‘i. While other books have told the “true crime” details of this case before, Dr. Rosa retells the story and shows how this narrative explains the beginnings of a non-white, “local” identity among Hawai‘i’s working-class people.

Light refreshments will be provided at the free presentation and books will be available for purchase and signing. Native Books is located at the ‘ewa end of Ward Warehouse (1050 Ala Moana Blvd.); phone: 808-596-8885.

Read more about Dr. Rosa’s research on the book in Kaunānā, UH-Mānoa’s online research publication. Also, listen to his April 2014 interview on HPR2‘s The Conversation.

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2014 | 176 pages | 978-0-8248-3970-3 | Paper | $19.99

I Ulu I Ka Aina Book Launch at Na Mea Hawaii

Aloha friends! Please join us at Native Books/Nā Mea Hawai‘i on Sunday, December 8 from 2 to 4 pm for the official launch of I Ulu I Ka ‘Āina, the second volume in the Hawai‘inuiākea series. Enjoy short readings by editor Jonathan Osorio and other contributors, music by Tuahine Serenaders, and light refreshments. For more details, visit the Hawai‘inuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge website.

May 2013 Author Events

It’s a busy month on the Hawai‘i homefront, with several authors visiting from elsewhere, as well as annual events—Ka Palapala Po‘okela awards and Hawai‘i Book & Music Festival.

Thursday, May 9
7:30 p.m., University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Art Auditorium
Hawaiian Historical Society will present a special two-part program examining the history of the leprosy settlement at Kalaupapa, seen from the perspective of the patients and families who lived there. UH Press authors Kerri Inglis and Anwei Law will give separate presentations based on their respective books, Ma‘i Lepera: Disease and Displacement in Nineteenth-Century Hawai‘i and Kalaupapa: A Collective Memory. For complete details on this free event, see the HHS post.

Friday, May 10
5:30-8:00 p.m., Hawai‘i State Library
Anticipation is building! Hawai‘i Book Publishers Association will announce the winners of this year’s Ka Palapala Po‘okela awards. Read our previous post here.

Saturday, May 11
11 a.m. to 3 p.m., San Diego Zoo
Donald Hodel will be at the ZooStore to sign copies of his book, Loulu: the Hawaiian Palm. (Unlike the others, this event, obviously, is in San Diego rather than Hawai‘i.)

Saturday, May 11
4:00-5:30 p.m., Native Books/Nā Mea Hawai‘i
Come to the book talk/signing with Leilani Holmes on Ancestry of Experience. See the earlier post for details.

Saturday-Sunday, May 18 & 19
All day, Frank F. Fasi Civic Center next to Honolulu Hale
Plan your weekend around the Hawai‘i Book & Music Festival—visit http://hawaiibookandmusicfestival.com/ to see the complete schedule and map. Several UH Press authors will be presenters and please visit our booth near the Hawai‘i Council for the Humanities pavilion.

Monday, May 20
7:00-8:30 p.m., Lyman Museum & Mission House, Hilo
Sandra Bonura coauthor of An American Girl in the Hawaiian Islands: Letters of Carrie Prudence Winter, 1890-1893, will speak about the book and its fascinating backstory. Visit Dr. Bonura’s website to learn more.

Friday, May 31
4:00 p.m., Neal S. Blaisdell Center
Kalaupapa: A Collective Memory will be receiving a Preservation Media Award from the Historic Hawaii Foundation. The award ceremony will take place at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu in the Pīkake Room at 4:00 pm. A reception will follow the presentation program. Tickets to the awards ceremony may be purchased for $45 each (HHF members) or $60 (general admission). Click here for more information.

Honolulu Events with Leilani Holmes on Ancestry of Experience

San Diego resident Leilani Holmes, author of Ancestry of Experience: A Journey Into Hawaiian Ways of Knowing, will visit Honolulu this month and appear at two public events.

On Saturday, May 11, 4:00 to 5:30 p.m., at Native Books/Nā Mea Hawai‘i, she will speak on her search to reclaim her origins, as well as discoveries of wider interest on Hawaiian identity and ancestry. Light refreshments will be provided at the free presentation. (She will start with a bit of hula, so come early!)

Leilani will also participate as one of the almost 200 presenters at the Hawai‘i Book & Music Festival, May 18-19, at the Frank F. Fasi Civic Grounds next to Honolulu Hale. On Saturday, May 18, she has two timeslots: At 12 noon, she will be a panelist at the Hawai‘i Council for the Humanities tent pavilion; at 4:00 p.m., she will be the solo presenter at the Alana Hawaiian Culture pavilion.

March 2013 Author Events #3: Kerri Inglis (Ma‘i Lepera)

Two book launches are scheduled this month for UH Hilo associate professor of history Kerri A. Inglis — one in Honolulu and one in Hilo. Her newly published work, Ma‘i Lepera: Disease and Displacement in Nineteenth-Century Hawai‘i, sheds light on the Kānaka Maoli who contracted leprosy and were sent to the remote peninsula traditionally known as Makanalua, on Molokai’s northern shore. The book offers compelling evidence of how the disease and its treatment altered Hawaiian perceptions and changed the way Kānaka Maoli viewed themselves—affecting their connections to each other, their families, their islands, and their nation.

Both events are free and open to all interested in attending the talk/signing. Books will be available for purchase and complimentary refreshments will be provided.

Friday, March 15, 2013
6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Native Books/Na Mea Hawai‘i
Join us at the newly renovated shop at the ‘ewa end of Ward Warehouse.

Thursday, March 21, 2013
12:30 to 2:00 p.m.
University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, Campus Center 301
The event is part of the monthly UHH English Department Brown Bag series of public discussions.

Next month Professor Inglis will also sign books on Wednesday, April 3, 1:00 p.m. at Basically Books in Hilo, as part of the store’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Merrie Monarch Festival.