“Voyagers of the Sky” Talk by Robert Shallenberger at Bishop Museum

Shallenberger-TOTP-Bishop MuseumConservation biologist and wildlife photographer Robert Shallenberger will share his exceptional images and knowledge on the seabirds of Hawai‘i on Thursday, December 12, 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at Bishop Museum. The basis for his talk is Dr. Shallenberger’s UH Press book, Hawaiian Birds of the Sea: Nā Manu Kai, which showcases many of his photos accompanied by informative text on the natural history and behavior of Hawai‘i’s seabirds. His illustrated lecture is part in the museum’s Traditions of the Pacific educational program series. Click here for more information and to RSVP online.

UH Press Author Roger Ames Wins 2013 Confucius Culture Prize

Warm congratulations to philosophy professor Roger T. Ames on being awarded a 2013 Confucius Culture Prize at the Sixth Annual World Confucian Conference in Shandong, China. The Confucius Culture Prize was established in 2009 to honor both institutions and individuals for their exceptional contributions to Confucian studies. Dr. Ames is the first non-Chinese to receive the award. His most recent book is Confucian Role Ethics: A Vocabulary; among several previous titles that he has coauthored or edited are: The Chinese Classic of Family Reverence: A Philosophical Translation of the Xiaojing and Focusing the Familiar: A Translation and Philosophical Interpretation of the Zhongyong.

For more information, read the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa news release and visit the UHM College of Arts & Humanities and the UHM Center for Chinese Studies websites (the latter also has links to a video documentary about Dr. Ames, or click here).

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NPR Highlights Jazz Musician Gabe Baltazar Jr.

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On September 28, National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition Saturday will broadcast journalist Heidi Chang‘s profile of Gabe Baltazar Jr. as a pioneering Asian American jazz artist. The piece draws from his UH Press book, If It Swings, It’s Music, and features in-person interviews with the legendary saxophonist and coauthor Theo Garneau, along with some of Baltazar’s musical highlights.

Weekend Edition Saturday is a two-hour program hosted by NPR’s Peabody Award-winning Scott Simon. Please check your local NPR-affiliate listings for air times. For those in Hawai‘i, the Weekend Edition show will be on HPR-2, starting at 5 a.m. HST (O‘ahu listeners can tune in to KIPO 89.3).

UPDATE: The story is archived on the NPR site for listening and viewing. Click here.

To hear more from Gabe, Hawai‘i Public Radio‘s The Conversation aired an interview by Chris Vandercook in August last year.

For a sultry treat, listen to Gabe’s performance of Santana’s “Europa” at the Hawai‘i State Art Museum on July 22, 2012. . .when he was 82—fantastic!

Kalaupapa in Ka Wai Ola

KaWaiOla0913The Kepakemapa (September) issue of OHA’s newsmonthly Ka Wai Ola features a review of Kalaupapa: A Collective Memory with material from an interview with author Anwei Skinsnes Law, who has dedicated over forty years to researching and documenting the lives of Kalaupapa residents. An accompanying sidebar on other recent books on Kalaupapa includes Ma‘i Lepera: Disease and Displacement in Nineteenth-Century Hawai‘i by Kerri Inglis. Check out pages 22-23 of Ka Wai Ola by clicking here or link to the complete issue.

As the international coordinator for IDEA – International Association for Integration, Dignity and Economic Advancement, Ms. Law will soon be attending the 18th International Leprosy Congress in Belgium. UPDATE 9/10/13: Professor Inglis will also be attending the leprosy congress.

Francis Hezel to Speak on Cultural Dilemmas in Development

franHezelNoted Micronesia specialist Father Francis X. Hezel will be giving a brown bag seminar, “Cultural Dilemmas in Development,” on Monday, July 15, at 12 pm in Burns Hall, room 3012, East-West Center. The seminar will draw on Hezel’s nearly fifty years of experience living and working in the Federated States of Micronesia and on material from his recently published book, Making Sense of Micronesia: The Logic of Pacific Island Culture. The event is sponsored by the Pacific Islands Development Program and the Center for Pacific Islands Studies.

Father Hezel will appear next week Tuesday on KHPR’s The Conversation, which airs weekday mornings at 8 and is heard on HPR-2, KIPO 89.3 fm, KIPM 89.7 fm and KIPH 88.3 fm. Visit http://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/theconversation to listen live or for an archive of past shows. UPDATE: Listen to the archived show here.

July 18, 2013 UPDATE: Hawaii News Now interviewed Fr. Hezel on the subject of Micronesians in Hawai‘i, with a brief look at Making Sense of Micronesia , as well as a new East-West Center report “Micronesians on the Move,” which is due next week from EWC. Click here to view the archived show.

Photo courtesy of Chuuk Advisory Group on Education Reform

UH Press around the Web: Summer Snips 2013

The Summer 2013 issue of Hyphen Magazine (#27 – The Sex Issue) has an interview with Amy Sueyoshi on her book, Queer Compulsions: Race, Nation, and Sexuality in the Affairs of Yone Noguchi. 

Stephen Hong Sohn’s Asian American Literature Fans Megapost blog review for May 31 included one for Relative Histories: Mediating History in Asian American Family Memoirs by Rocío Davis. (Look for the third title from the top.)

There’s still time to donate to an IndieGoGo project to raise money for a CD of 26 original and unique songs inspired by the poetry of the late Wayne Kaumualii Westlake. UH Press published the posthumous 2009 collection, Westlake: Poems by Wayne Kaumualii Westlake (1947-1984).

Robert J. Cabin, author of Restoring Paradise: Rethinking and Rebuilding Nature in Hawai‘i, wrote a related article in Earth Island Journal on successful ecological restoration projects. He also addressed questions on restoration ecology in an article earlier this year in American Scientist, titled “Nature Is Dead. Long Live Nature!” (Full article requires subscription or institutional access.)

Chinese Modernity and Global Biopolitics Book Review Seminar

Chinese ModernitySheldon Lu will be participating in a book review seminar of his recent book Chinese Modernity and Global Biopolitics: Studies in Literature and Visual Culture, at City University of Hong Kong on Friday, June 28, 4:30-6:30 pm. For more information, go to: http://ctl.cityu.edu.hk/NewsCentre/f_usr/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1356&FORUM_ID=8&CAT_ID=1&FORUM_TITLE=Upcoming+Events.

Professor Lu is also the editor (with Emilie Yueh-yu Yeh) of Chinese-Language Film: Historiography, Poetics, Politics and Transnational Chinese Cinemas: Identity, Nationhood, Gender.

UH Press around the Web: May/June Round-up

McDermott&AndradeCongratulations to John F. McDermott, M.D. on being honored by the American Psychiatric Association with the Alice Purcell McGavin Award in recognition of his distinguished career in child and adolescent psychiatry. Along with Dr. Naleen Andrade, Dr. McDermott coedited People and Cultures of Hawai‘i: The Evolution of Culture and Ethnicity. Read more about the award here.

Hawaii Public Radio‘s Chris Vandercook, co-host of “The Conversation,” interviewed UH Hilo associate professor Kerri Inglis about her book, Ma‘i Lepera: Disease and Displacement in Nineteenth-Century Hawai‘i. The show originally aired May 28 on HPR2 but listen to the segment about 38 minutes into the archived show.Inglis-MaiLepera

In commemoration of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, the Asia Society’s Farisa Khalid reflected on the life and work of painter Yasuo Kuniyoshi. She included insight from professor ShiPu Wang, author of Becoming American? The Art and Identity Crisis of Yasuo Kuniyoshi, on Kuniyoshi’s contributions to American art. Read the Asia Blog post and view a video slideshow of the artist’s paintings.

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Adding to its Samuel M. Kamakau Award for Hawai‘i’s Book of the Year, Kalaupapa: A Collective Memory was recognized by the Historic Hawai‘i Foundation with a Preservation Media award at its annual Preservation Honor Awards ceremony last Friday. Representatives from UH Press and the Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence (JABSOM) were joined by descendants of David Kupele, who was sent to Kalaupapa in 1915.

With summer almost officially upon us, how ’bout a nice hike up a rocky ridge with a fantastic ocean view? No need to work up a sweat to get a vicarious thrill of hiking with Stuart Ball, author of several UH Press guides. Experience it by reading this Exploration: Hawaii post by Coty Gonzales.

Hawaii Public Radio Interviews Mark Panek, Elliot Cades Award for Literature Winner

UH-Hilo professor Mark Panek was interviewed by Hawaii Public Radio’s Noe Tanigawa about being named this year’s winner of the Elliot Cades Award for Literature given to an “emerging writer.” The Hawaii Literary Arts Council primarily based their selection on his 2011 biography of Percy Kipapa, Big Happiness: The Life and Death of a Modern Hawaiian Warrior, which received the 2012 Ka Palapala Po‘okela award for nonfiction. The Cades awards will be officially presented at Mission Memorial Auditorium on Sunday, May 19, at 3:00 p.m., as part of the Hawai‘i Book & Music Festival and the public is invited.

The HPR interview will air tomorrow (Friday, May 17) at 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on KHPR 88.1 FM and on KIPO 88.9 FM at 12:30 or 1:30 p.m. (exact timing is subject to change). It will be archived on the HPR website or accessed at www.noetanigawa.com. UPDATE: Click here for the archived show.

Of related interest: Read a past Q&A on Big Happiness here.

In addition to Big Happiness, Dr. Panek also authored Gaijin Yokozuna: A Biography of Chad Rowan (UH Press, 2006) and this month released his first fiction title, Hawai‘i: A Novel, published by Lō‘ihi Press.

Congratulations, Mark!

Jazz Remix: Gabe Baltazar’s If It Swings, It’s Music

Baltazar-If It Swings, It's MusicCheck out this post on Aloha Got Soul about Gabe Baltazar Jr. and take a look/listen from one of his vintage LPs from 1979, recorded with a then-young group of musicians he played with at the Cavalier (located on Kapiolani Boulevard, way back when). Read Gabe’s autobiography, If It Swings, It’s Music, for more on the “Cavalier Days” (pages 157-159) and other great jazz highlights, all in Gabe’s inimitable talk-story style!

For more on Gabe and his music, revisit our post from last May.

AAAS Book Awards: Relative Histories Earns Honorable Mention in Literary Studies

At last week’s annual meeting of the Association for Asian American Studies in Seattle, the AAAS Book Awards (for titles published in 2011) were celebrated with a Friday reception in the exhibit hall, as well as at the general awards banquet. Relative Histories: Mediating History in Asian American Family Memoirs by Rocío G. Davis received an honorable mention in the category of Literary Studies. Professor Davis traveled from Hong Kong to attend the conference, so was on hand to accept the award.

(Relative Histories is 50% off during our 2013 Spring Sale that ends April 25!)