Kristiana Kahakauwila

By Staff Reports

(Honolulu) — Noted author Kristiana Kahakauwila will give the keynote address at Hawai‘i Pacific University’s annual Ko‘olau Writers Workshop, April 12. Her debut book of fiction, This is Paradise, was chosen as a Barnes & Noble Summer 2013 selection of the Discover Great New Writers program. The New York Times notes the collection “illuminates racial and class tensions and the guilt of leaving home for the mainland.”

“I’ll talk about ideas of ‘home’ — what we can learn from home and place that can inform our writing,” Kahakauwila said. “I’m always thinking of community, — `ohana, and our communities even beyond that — so I’ll speak about what that means in terms of inspiration and craft.”

“I’m also excited to teach little-used points of views like the first person plural and second person,” added Kahakauwila, an assistant professor of creative writing at Western Washington University.

Kahakauwila is among a diverse set of authors and editors at this year’s workshop at HPU’s Hawaii Loa Campus. The Ko‘olau Writers Workshop offers instruction and advice to writers of all levels. Held each spring, it features intensive sessions in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and scriptwriting.

“I’m really excited by this year’s group of teachers,” said HPU Associate Professor of English Tyler McMahon, one of the event’s organizers. “The 90-minute sessions are intensive, supportive and hands-on. Whether you’ve been writing for many years or are just getting started, I can’t think of a more efficient way to hone your skills.”

Registration fee includes a choice of two workshop sessions (one in the morning and the other in the afternoon), as well as lunch, parking, and the keynote address. Registration is $40 and $30 for students. Registration includes lunch, keynote address, choice of two workshop sessions (one in the morning and one in the afternoon), and parking. The event begins at 10 a.m. For speakers and program, see http://koolauwritersworkshop.com/

Students will be asked to show a valid student ID on the day of the event. Registrations are currently being accepted via https://koolauwritersworkshop.eventbrite.com/

For more information, contact Tyler McMahon, at tmcmahon@hpu.edu or (808) 544-1107.