WAIMEA, Island of Hawaii—Thelma Parker Memorial Public Library will host a free workshop, Ma-Ke Die Dead: Writing Poetry About Loved Ones Who Stay Gone, with Hawaii Poet Laureate Lee A. Tonouchi from 10 a.m. to noon on Thursday, August 27. The workshop is free and open to attendees ages 14+. Registration is not required.
In this workshop, Tonouchi will talk about his personal writing journey. Then, using his technique of “talk story poetry,” he will encourage workshop attendees to write their own pieces honoring those they have lost.
Tonouchi, who lost his mother in a car accident when he was 2, remembers his family never really talked about his mother’s death. “Everybody just held in their grief and carried on,” he said. Later in life, Tonouchi discovered that writing about people you have lost can be cathartic, healing, and help make it okay for other people to share their stories.
“For da past chree decades, it’s been my mission to show local people that dey should be proud of their Pidgin,” said Tonouchi. “Through da technique of talk story, I believe everybody can find their poetic voice. I see my role as being able for empower people, for give ‘em da tools dey need for be writers demselves so dey can represent their own communities and life experiences. Da goal is for have one greater diversity of voices as part of Hawaii’s local literature.”
Tonouchi is known as “Da Pidgin Guerilla” for his activism in campaigning for Pidgin (Hawaii Creole) to be accepted as a legitimate language. He is the recipient of the 2023 American Association for Applied Linguistics Distinguished Public Service Award for his work in raising public awareness of important language-related issues and promoting linguistic social justice. He is the author of several books, including a Pidgin poetry collection, Significant Moments in da Life of Oriental Faddah and Son: One Hawaii Okinawan Journal, which won the Association for Asian American Studies Book Award, and a Pidgin children’s picture book, Okinawan Princess: Da Legend of Hajichi Tattoos, which won the Skipping Stones Honor Award. His latest book, Chiburu: Anthoology of Hawaii Okinawan Literature, was published in 2023. Tonouchi will serve as the Hawaii Poet Laureate from 2026 to 2029.
For more information, call 887-6067. Thelma Parker Memorial Public Library is located at 67-1209 Mamalahoa Highway in Waimea. The library is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, noon to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday.
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