The Painted King Wins Historic Hawaii Preservation Award

The Painted KingThe Painted King: Art, Activism, and Authenticity in Hawai‘i, by Glenn Wharton, will be among the books receiving this year’s Historic Hawai‘i Foundation Preservation Media Award.

The award ceremony will be held on Friday, May 11, 2012, 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). Visit http://www.historichawaii.org/ for more information.

2012 Ka Palapala Pookela Awards

The annual Ka Palapala Po‘okela Awards, presented by the Hawai‘i Book Publishers Association, honor Hawai‘i’s best books, authors, and illustrators. This year’s award ceremony will be held on Friday, May 11, 2012, at 6 pm, at Bishop Museum’s Atherton Halau. A reception and book signing will follow at 7:30 pm., in the museum’s Hawaiian Hall Atrium and Courtyard.

Tickets are $25 and include heavy pupu buffet and cocktails, gourmet chocolate truffles by Choco le‘a, and entertainment by Ka ‘Eha. Book sale and author signing proceeds to benefit Bishop Museum. Tickets can be purchased at Native Books/Na Mea Hawai‘i at Ward Warehouse (596-8885). For more information, email aloha@hawaiibooks.org.

This year’s UH Press nominees are:

Links to the Past: The Work of Early Hawaiian Artisans, by Wendy S. Arbeit
(Excellence in Hawaiian Culture, Excellence in Text or Reference, Excellence in Special Interest)

Backstage in a Bureaucracy: Politics and Public Service by Susan Chandler and Richard C. Pratt
(Excellence in Nonfiction)

No Nā Mamo: Traditional and Contemporary Hawaiian Beliefs and Practices by Malcolm Nāea Chun
(Excellence in Hawaiian Culture, Excellence in Nonfiction, Excellence in Design)

Hawaiian Surfing: Traditions from the Past by John R. K. Clark
(Excellence in Hawaiian Culture, Excellence in Text or Reference, Excellence in Nonfiction, Excellence in Design)

Conservation of Pacific Sea Turtles by Peter Dutton, Dale Squires, and Mahfuzuddin Ahmed
(Excellence in Natural Science)

Fighting in Paradise: Labor Unions, Racism, and Communists in the Making of Modern Hawai‘i by Gerald Horne
(Excellence in Nonfiction)

Murder Leaves Its Mark by Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl
(Excellence in Literature)

People and Cultures of Hawai‘i: The Evolution of Culture and Ethnicity edited by John F. McDermott and Naleen Naupaka Andrade
(Excellence in Text or Reference)

I Ulu I Ke Kumu: The Hawai‘inuiākea Monograph edited by Puakea Nogelmeier
(Excellence in Hawaiian Culture)

Big Happiness: The Life and Death of a Modern Hawaiian Warrior by Mark Panek
(Excellence in Nonfiction)

Shore Fishes of Easter Island by John E. Randall and Alfredo Cea
(Excellence in Natural Science)

Living Spirit: Literature and Resurgence in Okinawa edited by Frank Stewart and Katsunori Yamazato
(Excellence in Literature)

Waves of Resistance: Surfing and History in Twentieth-Century Hawai‘i by Isaiah Helekunihi Walker
(Excellence in Nonfiction, Excellence in Design)

Cultures of Commemoration Wins Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize

Native Paths to Volunteer TrailsCultures of Commemoration: The Politics of War, Memory, and History in the Mariana Islands, by Keith L Camacho, was recently awarded the Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize. The prize is awarded to works that contribute to the development of “the Pacific Basin Community Concept” and to regional studies of the Pacific Basin region. Cultures of Commemoration is part of the Pacific Islands Monograph Series (PIMS), published in association with the Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai‘i.

Another PIMS title, The Pacific Theater: Island Representations of World War II, edited by Geoffrey M. White and Lamont Lindstrom, received the Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize in 1990.

Hokkeiji Wins the John Whitney Hall Prize

Hokkeji
Hokkeji and the Reemergence of Female Monastic Orders in Premodern Japan, by Lori Meeks, has been awarded the Association for Asian Studies’ (AAS) 2012 John Whitney Hall Prize. The award was announced at this month’s AAS annual meeting in Toronto.

Hokkeji and the Reemergence of Female Monastic Orders in Premodern Japan is a volume in the Kuroda Institute’s Studies in East Asian Buddhism series.

UH Press Recognized at Ka Palapala Awards

University of Hawai‘i Press was highlighted at the annual Ka Palapala Po‘okela Awards gala on May 6, when its director, William Hamilton, was honored with the John Dominis Holt Award for Excellence in Publishing. Hamilton is the Press’ longest serving director and only the third in its 64-year history.

In addition to the Holt Award, books published by the Press receiving accolades this year included:
A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Hawai‘i: The Main Islands and Offshore Waters (Jim Denny) — Award of Excellence in Natural Science
Hawaiian Birds of the Sea: Nā Manu Kai (Robert J. Shallenberger) — Honorable Mention, Excellence in Natural Science
Regulating Paradise: Land Use Controls in Hawai‘i (David L. Callies) — Honorable Mention, Excellence in Text or Reference Books
The Value of Hawaiʻi: Knowing the Past, Shaping the Future (Craig Howes & Jonathan Osorio) — Honorable Mention, Excellence in Nonfiction

Winner of the Samuel M. Kamakau Award for Hawai‘i Book of the Year went to Polynesia: The Mark and Carolyn Blackburn Collection of Polynesian Art (Adrienne L. Kaeppler), distributed for the Blackburns by UH Press. The stunning book also won the Award of Excellence in the category of Illustrative or Photographic Books and its designer, Barbara Pope Book Design, was the winner in the Design category.

Read the Hawai‘i Book Blog post of the award ceremony at: http://www.hawaiibookblog.com/articles/2011-ka-palapala-pookela-winners/.
View photos of the event from the May 11, 2011, PULSE post: http://www.honolulupulse.com/events/books-2011-ka-palapala-po%e2%80%98okela-awards-winners.

Ethnoburb Wins Association for Asian American Studies Award


Ethnoburb: The New Ethnic Community in Urban America, by Wei Li, has been awarded the 2009 Book Award in Social Sciences from the Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS). Professor Li will accept the award at the Annual AAAS Meeting in New Orleans on May 21, 2011.

“As Li’s well-written and thoroughly researched study demonstrates, American social, economic, political, and living patterns, and maintenance of the nation’s diversity rather than forced assimilation, will do much to strengthen the United States in the increasingly globalized world.” —H-Net Reviews

2011 Ka Palapala Pookela Awards

The annual Ka Palapala Po‘okela Awards, presented by the Hawai‘i Book Publishers Association, honor Hawai‘i’s best books, authors, and illustrators. This year’s award ceremony will be held on Friday, May 6, 2011, 5:30-9:00 pm, at the Mission Houses Museum (free parking at Kawaiaha‘o Plaza, on the corner of South and Kawaiaha‘o streets).

Tickets are $30 and include entry to the Museum, pupu and cocktails, gourmet chocolates by Choco le’a, and entertainment by Na Leo Pilimehana. Click here to purchase tickets: http://www.hawaiibooks.org/ or stop by the Mission Houses Museum or Native Books. The awards will be hosted by Kimo Kahoano and Carole Kai.

This year’s UH Press nominees are:

Regulating Paradise: Land Use Controls in Hawai‘i, Second Edition, by David L. Callies
(Excellence in Text or Reference, Excellence in Design)

A Photographic Guide to the Birds of Hawai‘i: The Main Islands and Offshore Waters by Jim Denny
(Excellence in Illustrative or Photographic Books, Excellence in Natural Science)

Living on the Shores of Hawai‘i: Natural Hazards, the Environment, and Our Communities by Charles Fletcher, Robynne Boyd, William J. Neal, and Virginia Tice
(Excellence in Natural Science, Excellence in Text or Reference)

Bright Triumphs from Dark Hours: Turning Adversity into Success by David Heenan
(Excellence in Nonfiction, Excellence in Design)

Hart Wood: Architectural Regionalism in Hawaii by Don J. Hibbard, Glenn E. Mason, and Karen J. Weitze
(Excellence in Illustrative or Photographic Books, Excellence in Nonfiction, Excellence in Design)

The Value of Hawai‘i: Knowing the Past, Shaping the Future edited by Craig Howes and Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwo‘ole Osorio
(Excellence in Nonfiction)

Hawaiian Birds of the Sea: Na Manu Kai by Robert J. Shallenberger
(Excellence in Illustrative or Photographic Books, Excellence in Natural Science)

Mauri Ola: Contemporary Polynesian Poems in English edited by Albert Wendt, Reina Whaitiri, and Robert Sullivan
(Excellence in Literature)

Polynesia: The Mark and Carolyn Blackburn Collection of Polynesian Art by Adrienne Kaeppler (distributed for Mark and Carolyn Blackburn)
(Excellence in Illustrative or Photographic Books, Excellence in Design)

Making Transcendents Honored

Making Transcendents: Ascetics and Social Memory in Early Medieval China, by Robert Ford Campany, received an honorable mention for the Association for Asian Studies’ 2010 Joseph Levenson Prize (pre-1900 category). The Levenson Prize is awarded annually to English-language books that make the greatest contribution to increasing understanding of the history, culture, society, politics, or economy of China.

Praise for Making Transcendents:

“Campany summarizes scholarship on the sociology of secrecy, recent work on how identity is shaped through culture, and he supplies the best discussion I have read on the problems and explanatory potential of hagiography. The epilogue which addresses the fundamental problems of how we can assess the sincerity and motivations of adepts and the extent to which we can determine from stories about transcendents what really happened, is especially clear and eloquent. In short, this is a book as surprising and rich in detail as the stories that inspired it.” —Journal of Chinese Studies

“If one day we arrive at a more profound understanding of the hidden agendas behind so much of Chinese writing, hagiographical as well as historical, Making Transcendents will undoubtedly have played a significant role in that process.” —Journal of Asian Studies

“Invaluable for anyone who wishes to understand the phenomenon of sanctity in general and the Chinese cult of xian in particular.” —Religious Studies Review

Hart Wood Receives Historic Hawaii Foundation Award

Hart WoodHart Wood: Architectural Regionalism in Hawaii, by Don Hibbard, Glenn Mason, and Karen Weitze, will be recognized with a Preservation Honor Award at Historic Hawai‘i Foundation’s 2011 Awards Ceremony on April 19. This is the 36th year of the Preservation Honor Awards, which are Hawai‘i’s highest recognition of preservation projects that “perpetuate, rehabilitate, restore or interpret the state’s architectural, archaeological and/or cultural heritage.”

“With insightful text and 200 illustrations, Hart Wood traces the life and work of a significant Hawai‘i architect who resided and practiced in the islands from the 1920s to the 1950s. The wide range of buildings he designed has special significance for us today, as fine examples of this period’s distinctive regional style of Hawaiian architecture. The book is the culmination of years of extensive research, documentation, and the compilation of photographs and materials, which was first initiated in the 1980s. The University of Hawai‘i Press worked closely with the authors to design and produce a volume to match their vision. . . . [An] outstanding contribution to Hawai‘i’s preservation efforts.” —Hawai‘i Historic Foundation award letter

Bright Triumphs a Book of the Year Finalist

Bright Triumphs From Dark Hours: Turning Adversity into Success, by David Heenan, is a finalist for Foreword Reviews Book of the Year (self help category). Representing more than 350 publishers, the finalists were selected from 1400 entries in 56 categories.

The winners will be determined by a panel of librarians and booksellers. Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners, as well as Editor’s Choice Prizes for Fiction and Nonfiction will be announced at a special program at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference in New Orleans this June.

“The triumphs of each individual are more keenly felt by the reader because of Heenan’s dedication to background research and meticulous detail. . . . [His] quick forays into childhood anecdotes . . . make these incredibly successful people relatable to the average self-help reader. Overcoming adversity, after all, is a universal wish, and anyone looking for inspiration and insight will find the tenets of success this book espouses truly valuable.” —Foreword (January/February 2010)

Choice Magazine’s Outstanding Academic Titles for 2010 Announced

Each year Choice Magazine, the official publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries, compiles a distinguished list of Outstanding Academic Titles. The following UH Press book was recognized for 2010. A complete list of titles will be available in Choice’s January 2010 issue.

Traditional Micronesian Societies: Adaptation, Integration, and Political Organization in the Central Pacific
by Glenn Petersen

“This overview . . . is one of the most significant contributions to Pacific studies of the past decade. . . . [It] will become the standard by which future synthetic treatments of Micronesia are judged. . . . Essential.” —Choice —Choice (May 2010)

Manoa Journal Receives NEA Grant

UH Press journal Manoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing received a National Endowment for the Arts grant for the coming year. Manoa will use the highly competitive NEA $10,000 grant to support the publication of two forthcoming issues.

Published twice a year since 1989, Manoa has received national and international recognition for such issues as Voices from Okinawa (2009), Varua Tupu: New Writing from French Polynesia, (2005) and Century of the Tiger: One Hundred Years of Korean Culture in America (2002).