{Photo by Rokki Midro}
It seemed impossible during covid to meet new people especially during Covid which ravaged our communities and hearts. But this retired UH professor has been one of the few and rare gems of the pandemic. Although I have never met her in person, I feel a kinship with Kamalani. She is as genuine as she is smart. And I am so grateful to have met her. She graciously agreed to give us a picture of her life, what she aspires to and how her culture shapes what and who she writes about.
Hi Kamalani. For those who haven’t met you, could you please tell us a little about yourself?
I taught business writing and linguistics for 38 years at the University of Hawaiʻi – Leeward Community College. What a wonderful experience! Iʻve worked the most interesting students and colleagues, and I did a lot of writing for my classes. I feel grateful to have had a job I loved.
Iʻm proud, too, of the contribution I made to the Hawaiian community by founding Pupu A ʻO Ewa Native Hawaiian Writing and Arts website. It looks so much different from when I ran it for five years, and I wish I had thought to archive the site. Still, I am proud of what I started.
I finally have time to focus on my own writing projects – in between helping with my toddler grandkids.
What inspired you to write for children?
Iʻve always wanted to tell stories about my native community. I grew up in the 60s when there werenʻt books for Hawaiian kids like me. Any books we did have tended to be for the tourist market. I canʻt remember any books of the 60s written by Hawaiian writers for Hawaiian kids. Things are changing now with more Hawaiian writers, including the wonderful Kalikolehua Hurley, who happens to be my daughter and my writing partner.
Like a lot of women, when I was raising my own kids, I focused on making a living and developing my career. Now that I’m “Puna” (that’s what the grandkids call me – from kupuna, meaning elder and the source), I’m enjoying seeing the world through their eyes.
What are some of your greatest challenges in writing for children?
Writing for kids is hard! Business writing is a challenge, too, but it’s so much more straightforward. The two are word economic, and so you’d think I’d be used to communicating with fewer words. But no. Children’s books are short but lyrical and, yes, magical. There are a lot more skills required than I had expected.
What has it been like transitioning from what you were doing before to what you are doing now?
It’s been great improving my skills. I joined SCBWI many years ago, and the silver lining of covid lockdowns of the last couple of years is that learning opportunities went online. Suddenly I could attend the Smithsonian nonfiction workshop and the winter and summer conferences! I also belong to 12×12, and I enjoy the concept of writing 12 drafts in a year, although that hasn’t happened until recently. Lol. The Writing Barn has some good online classes, too.
Last year I took two courses, 6 weeks each, that really changed my writing life. Donna Janell Bowman’s picture biography course gave me the tools I didn’t know I needed. I use her method for analyzing mentor texts several times per week.
Then my writing game really took off with the amazing Candace Flemingʻs course on narrative nonfiction. That course truly was a game-changer for me. Most of us were interested in exploring books for older elementary and middle graders. I learned so much from Candace and her guest speakers, especially Steve Sheikins, Deborah Heiligman, and Stephanie Hemphill. A true master course.
Is there anything you can take from your prior career that helps you write for kids?
I’ve got great grammar and rhetorical skills, so there’s that. And I’m disciplined and self-motivated. Otherwise, learning to write for kids is a whole new world.
What are your hopes and dreams for 2022 and beyond in terms of your writing career and what you would like to see published in the future?
My big goal is to have three of the projects I’ve been working on the longest to be published. All three are “own voices” stories of my Native Hawaiian community: a middle grades historical nonfiction, a picture book biography-STEM, and a fiction picture book related to my kids when they were young. I didn’t think I needed an agent, but that may be the only way to get the MG book published. I’m hopeful.
Do you think there are more opportunities for diverse authors currently? At the same time do you think there are challenges we still need to overcome to get more diverse books published?
Oh, yes. For so long, our stories (and I mean indigenous/NHPI/BIPOC) have been told by those outside the community. And they tend to be written for the tourist market. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but often those stories don’t reflect the host culture. For example, names in Hawaiian culture are important and meaningful, as I believe they are in Native American cultures. Yet they seem to be a throw-away or afterthought in Hawaii books by non-natives.
It’s hard, too, to be okay with books on Native Hawaiian heroes, such as Duke Kahanamoku, written by non-Native Hawaiian people. The lack of Hawaiian-ness of so many biographies in the market is dismaying. Why is it that every book on the great Duke barely touch on what made him Duke in the first place – being a Native Hawaiian man. That story, I think, can only be told correctly by a Native Hawaiian.
I’m not saying non-natives cannot write about native subjects. But I think it was Linda Sue Park who suggested that writers should ask themselves if they are the best person to tell a story about a subject, not of their culture. Until then, I believe that stories told by those outside the culture will always have that outsider point of view. And that’s a disservice to kids of the culture.
I read an article once about how there are not a lot of stories about Hawaii written by local authors. Why do you think that is? What do you think we can do to change that?
Iʻm sure you can tell that to me, there’s a difference between local and Native Hawaiian writers. That said, non-local writers can be so in love with local culture that every topic is shiny and new. Honu! Monk seals! Dolphins! Days at the beach! We local and Native Hawaiian writers know our Hawaiʻi culture is more than nice weather and cute animals.
Local and Native Hawaiian writers must believe we have stories to tell that are not just for the tourist market.
I think of my friend, the great Juliet Kono Lee, and her wonderful stories that reflect not just her upbringing but resonate with local people who grew up here. I wish sheʻd write childrenʻs books. Theyʻd be amazing.
Do you have any advice for those who aspire to write for children?
Honestly, who am I to give advice to anyone? I will say what I used to tell my college students, and that is to do your homework, to be brave, and to find your people (in this case, with other writers). Thatʻs good advice.
Mahalo, Brandi, for inviting me to share my manaʻo.
