Bamboo Ridge Poetry Reading: What We Must Remember

UH Hilo, UCB 127
Hilo, HI


Friday, September 7, 2018
2:00pm - 4:00pm

Poets Christy Passion, Ann Inoshita, Juliet Kono and Jean Yamasaki Toyama will read from their work that revisits the 1932 kidnapping and murder of Native Hawaiian prize fighter Joseph Kahahawai and the events surrounding it, commonly known as “The Massie Case.” The poetry reading will be followed by a Q&A. 

This event is free and open to the public. All are welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be served.

About the authors

Juliet S. Kono is the author of several books: Hilo Rains, Tsunami Years, Ho‘olulu Park and the Pepsodent Smile, The Bravest Opihi, No Choice but to Follow, and Anshū, a novel. She has appeared in many anthologies and collections and is the recipient of several awards. She is retired and lives with her husband in Honolulu.

Jean Yamasaki Toyama is professor emerita of French and former Associate Dean of the College of Languages, Linguistics and Literature at the University of Hawai‘I at Mānoa. Her latest books include a volume of poetry, Prepositions, and one of short stories, The Piano Tuner’s Wife. She is a Beckett scholar.

Christy Passion is a critical care nurse and poet. Her singular works have appeared in various local journals and anthologies, as well as in mainland and international journals such as Crab Creek Review, Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, Blue Collar Review, and Mauri Ola. She has received the James A. Vaughn Award for Poetry, the Atlanta Review International Merit Award, and the Academy of American Poetry Award. She coauthored No Choice but to Follow and her début collection of poetry, Still Out of Place, was published in 2016. She works and resides in Honolulu. She is a 2017 Elliot Cades Literary Award winner.

Ann Inoshita was born and raised on O‘ahu. She has a book of poems, Mānoa Stream (Kahuaomānoa Press), and she co-authored No Choice but to Follow, a book and CD of linked poems (Bamboo Ridge Press). Her short play, Wea I Stay: A Play in Hawai‘i, was included in The Statehood Project performed by Kumu Kahua Theatre and published by Fat Ulu Productions. Her creative works have been anthologized widely in local and international journals. She teaches at Leeward Community College.

John P. Rosa is Associate Professor of History at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. He is the author of Local Story: The Massie-Kahahawai Case and the Culture of History (University of Hawai‘i Press, 2014). He was raised in Kaimukī and Kāne‘ohe on the island of O‘ahu.

University of Hawai‘i Alumni