Category: Hawaii

Milton Murayama’s Latest: Dying in a Strange Land

Posted on by stephchun

Milton Murayama’s long-awaited Dying in a Strange Land brings to a close the saga of the Oyama family. Familiar faces from All I Asking For Is My Body, Five Years on a Rock, and Plantation Boy return to advance the story from the years immediately following World War II to the 1980s. After her husband sinks them deep in debt, strong-willed and pragmatic Sawa takes charge of the family. The war ends and her children leave the plantation camp for Honolulu and the Mainland, but Sawa has little time for loneliness or regret. When asked by her neighbors if she misses them, she replies, “They must look for what they want.”

June 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3197-4 / $24.95 (PAPER)

Cultural Tourism and the Negotiation of Tradition

Posted on by stephchun

At the 1989 Smithsonian Folklife Festival, throngs of visitors gathered on the National Mall to celebrate Hawai‘i’s multicultural heritage through its traditional arts. The “edu-tainment” spectacle revealed a richly complex Hawai‘i few tourists ever see and one never before or since replicated in a national space. The program was restaged a year later in Honolulu for a local audience and subsequently inspired several spin-offs in Hawai‘i. In both Washington, D.C., and Honolulu, the program instigated a new paradigm for cultural representation. Based on archival research and extensive interviews with festival organizers and participants, American Aloha: Cultural Tourism and the Negotiation of Tradition by Heather A. Diamond, is an innovative cross-disciplinary study that uncovers the behind-the-scenes negotiations and processes that inform the national spectacle of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

June 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3171-4 / $55.00 (CLOTH)

An Anthology of Surf Writing

Posted on by stephchun

A thousand years after Hawaiians first paddled long wooden boards into the ocean, modern surfers have continued this practice, which has recently been transformed into a global industry. Pacific Passages: An Anthology of Surf Writing, edited by Patrick Moser, brings together four centuries of writing about surfing, the most comprehensive collection of Polynesian and Western perspectives on the history and culture of a sport currently enjoyed by millions of people around the world. The stories begin with Hawaiian legends and chants and are followed by the journals of explorers; the travel narratives of missionaries and luminaries such as Herman Melville, Mark Twain, and Jack London; and the contemporary observations of Tom Wolfe, William Finnegan, Susan Orlean, and Bob Shacochis.

May 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3155-4 / $32.00 (PAPER)

UH Press to Exhibit at the LA Times Festival of Books

Posted on by stephchun

University of Hawai‘i Press will be participating in the 13th Annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, “the country’s largest celebration of the written word,” on April 26–27.

Leading off the festival will be an awards ceremony honoring recipients of the 2007 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, including the Kirsch Award, which honors a living author with a substantial connection to the American West and whose contribution to American letters deserves special recognition. Maxine Hong Kingston has been named the award’s 28th recipient. The Press is the publisher of Ms. Kingston’s memoir, Hawai‘i One Summer.

Hawaiian Sovereignty in The Nation

Posted on by stephchun

The April 28, 2008 special issue of The Nation explores the annexation of Hawai‘i by the United States and questions of sovereignty and indigenous rights that persist today. (Click here to view the articles available at The Nation’s web site.) Elinor Langer, the author of the lead article, “Famous Are the Flowers: Hawaiian Resistance Then—and Now,” also compiled an extensive reading and resources list that includes these University of Hawai‘i Press titles:

The Hawaiian Kingdom by Ralph S. Kuykendall
Volume 1: Foundation and Transformation, 1778—1854
Volume 2: Twenty Critical Years, 1854–1874
Volume 3: The Kalakaua Dynasty, 1874–1893

“The indispensable work of traditional Hawaiian historiography.” —The Nation


Na Kua‘aina: Living Hawaiian Culture by Daviana Pomaika‘i McGregor

“Indispensable.” —The Nation

“A bold intervention in modern Hawaiian politics, a summoning to the barricades that by its end will have you cheering. Na Kua‘aina is the inspiring story of a culture that refuses to die, of a resurgent nation poised to reclaim its embattled heritage. . . . This is no dry-as-dust tome destined for library basements, but a solidly grounded set of political demands cast in historical mode. It is good research leading to intellectually honest conclusions with real-world applications.” —Honolulu Star-Bulletin


Dismembering Lahui: A History of the Hawaiian Nation to 1887 by Jonathan K. K. Osorio

“Indispensable.” —The Nation

“Profound scholarship that examines neglected sources and adds a new dimension to our understanding of the Hawaiian past.” —The Contemporary Pacific


Who Owns the Crown Lands of Hawai‘i by Jon M. Van Dyke

“Definitive. Who Owns the Crown Lands of Hawai‘i? [is] certain to become the standard reference for that question.” —The Nation

“Fascinating. . . . Deeply researched. . . . Adds a new and thought-provoking dimension on a debate that has too often boiled down into simplistic arguments.” —Honolulu Advertiser


From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai‘i (Revised Edition) by Haunani K. Trask

“One of the strongest and most influential texts of the sovereignty movement.” —The Nation

“This book is not for the politically squeamish. It is a blueprint for sovereignty movements that aims at fueling the collective memory of a people.” —Pacific Affairs

Na Kua‘aina Wins History Prize

Posted on by stephchun

Na Kua‘aina: Living Hawaiian Culture, by Davianna Pomaika‘i McGregor (professor of ethnic studies, University of Hawai‘i), recently received the Kenneth W. Baldridge Prize for best history book written by a Hawai‘i resident. The prize is awarded by the Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society.

Na Kua‘aina has also been selected as a finalist for the National Council on Public History Book Award. Winners will be announced at the NCPH Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, on April 11, 2008.

Tourism and Tourism Policy Planning in Hawaii

Posted on by stephchun

Developing a Dream Destination: Tourism and Tourism Policy Planning in Hawai‘i, by James Mak, is an interpretive history of tourism and tourism policy development in Hawai‘i from the 1960s to the twenty-first century. Part 1 looks at the many changes in tourism since statehood (1959) and tourism’s imprint on Hawai‘i. Part 2 reviews the development of public policy toward tourism, beginning with a story of the planning process that started around 1970—a full decade before the first comprehensive State Tourism Plan was crafted and implemented.

“I consider this to be ‘hands down’ the best book that I’ve read on the policy process of tourism development. It will become mandatory reading for any serious student of tourism and tourism development. It should be mandatory reading for planners and policy makers in areas developing their tourism industry. My congratulations to Professor Mak both for the level and quality of research and for the insights into the processes of tourism development.” —Richard R. Perdue, editor, Journal of Travel Research, and board chair of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism

March 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3243-8 / $25.00 (PAPER)

Guardian of the Sea Event

Posted on by stephchun

John Clark, author of Guardian of the Sea: Jizo in Hawai‘i, will be signing his book at Akiko’s Buddhist Bed and Breakfast in Wailea on Saturday, March 1, following a performance by shakuhachi grandmaster Riley Lee and a dramatic reading of a Peter Charlot script inspired by Clark’s book. Admission for the evening program (7-8:30 p.m.) is $10 ($8 for children under 12). Parking is available at Hakalau Baseball Park. For reservations and more information, please contact Akiko at 808-963-6422 or email msakiko@hawaii.rr.com.

Stephanie Feeney Book Signings in February

Posted on by stephchun

Popular Hawai‘i children’s author Stephanie Feeney will be signing copies of her recently published book, Sun and Rain: Exploring Seasons in Hawai‘i, at:

Borders Waikele, Sunday, February 10, 12:00 noon
Borders Pearlridge, Sunday, February 10, 2:00 pm
Barnes & Noble Kahala Mall, Sunday, February 17, 12:00 noon

In addition to Sun and Rain, Dr. Feeney is the author of best sellers A Is for Aloha, Hawaii Is a Rainbow, and Sand to Sea: Marine Life in Hawaii. To order all of these titles and other selected children’s books at 20% off in January and February, please visit the University of Hawai‘i Press website by clicking here.

Jon Van Dyke Discussion and Book Signing

Posted on by stephchun

University of Hawai‘i law professor Jon Van Dyke will be discussing his recently published book, Who Owns the Crown Lands of Hawai‘i?, at the Ward Warehouse Native Books/Na Mea Hawai‘i on Sunday, January 27, 2008, from 3 to 5 pm. This free, public event will bring together interested persons in the community to focus on the complex legal history of Hawai‘i public lands and the questions raised by the book, such as: Could the Crown Lands form the core of a land base for an emerging Native Hawaiian nation? What about the lands in the private Ali‘i trusts? A book signing, light refreshments, and informal discussion will follow.

This month order a copy of Professor Van Dyke’s book at 20% off from the University of Hawai‘i Press website by clicking here.

The Growth and Collapse of Pacific Island Societies Now in Paperback

Posted on by stephchun

The Growth and Collapse of Pacific Island Societies: Archaeological and Demographic Perspectives, edited by Patrick V. Kirch and Jean-Louis Rallu, is now available in paperback.

“This collection is a seminal contribution to the longstanding concern with demographic levels and change before and following European contacts with Pacific Island societies. . . . The essays represent exemplary interdisciplinary meshings and, in developing a new level of technique for this research, remind readers of the excellence of the earlier work as well. . . . Undoubtably, this will be a basic reference in Pacific Islands scholarship. Highly recommended.” —Choice

January 2008 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3148-6 / $35.00 (PAPER)

MENU