Hawaii Book & Music Festival: Full Schedule

12:00pm HST

*Special Presentation: Sustainability - Going All In: Levers for Climate Action (In partnership with the UH Mānoa Better Tomorrow Speaker Series)

Please note the Registration Link:
https://bit.ly/Cobb-ClimateEmergency
or
Register at UH Manoa Better Tomorrow Speaker Series:
https://manoa.hawaii.edu/speakers/sign-up/

Speakers

Kim Cobb

Climate scientist Kim Cobb is Professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology and director of the Global Change Program. Her research areas include oceanography, paleoclimates, and isotope geochemistry, and she has been published in... Read More →

Thursday September 30, 2021 12:00pm - 1:00pm HST
UH Mānoa BetterTomorrow Speaker Series

Sustainability

5:00pm HST

*Special Presentation - Celebrating What's Right with the World

A world-class photojournalist and keynote speaker Celebrates What’s Right with the World

Amazon.com
"I am a teacher and have yet to be so inspired by a video. If people would see this and take into their lives the principles Dewitt Jones is teaching, this world would be a different place. This is a must see.
Through some of the best photography anywhere, Dewitt Jones brilliantly paints a message of optimism and abundance through a metaphor that translates well to everyday life."

Moderator

Roger Jellinek

Roger Jellinek has been Executive Director of HBMF since 2006. He’s been involved in book publishing for over 50 years in New York and Hawai‘i — as a New York Times Book Review editor, as a trade book editor, science newsletter publisher, literary agent, and map publisher. He... Read More →

Speakers

Dewitt Jones

20 years with National Geographic photographing stories around the globe has earned Dewitt Jones the reputation as a world-class photojournalist. As a motion picture director, he had two documentary films nominated for Academy Awards before he was thirty. He rose to the forefront... Read More →

Friday October 1, 2021 5:00pm - 6:00pm HST
Special Presentations

Special Presentations

12:00pm HST

*Special Presentation - Music - Makana in Concert at Kawaiaha‘o Church

A concert by one of the greatest slack-key guitarists in a unique setting

Artists

Ken Makuakane

Producer

Kenneth Makuakane, the producer of the HBMF Makana concert from Kawaiaha‘o Church, is a songwriter (2000 songs), musician ( guitar, ‘ukulele, bass, piano and multiple percussion instruments), founding member of Mango and The Pandanus Club, and producer (almost 200 albums), working... Read More →

Makana

The last protégé of Slack Key Master Sonny Chillingworth, Makana has gone on to serve his community and the world as torch bearer for the uniquely Hawai'ian art form. His music has been featured on 3 Grammy® nominated albums while Guitar Player magazine rated him one of the top... Read More →

Saturday October 2, 2021 12:00pm - 1:00pm HST
Special Presentations

Music, Music

4:00pm HST

*Special Presentation - Authors - Hawai’i Literary Arts Council 2021 Awards

The Hawai’i Literary Arts Council has announced the recipients of the 2021 Elliot Cades Awards for Hawai’i Literature.

The Cades awardees are: Elmer Omar Bascos Pizo and Kawai Strong Washburn.

The Hawai’i Literary Arts Council also has announced recipients of the Loretta D. Petrie Awards for outstanding service to Hawai’i’s literary community.

The Petrie awardees are: Gail N. Harada and Craig Howes.

Moderator

Eric Paul Shaffer

Eric Paul Shaffer is author of seven poetry books, including Even Further West and A Million-Dollar Bill. Green Leaves: Selected and New Poems will appear in 2022. 600 individual poems appear in reviews in America and eleven other countries. Shaffer teaches composition, literature... Read More →

Speakers

Elmer Omar Bascos Pizo

Elmer Omar Bascos Pizo comes from a family of farmers, teachers and religious leaders in the Philippines. His poems are provocative, often sad, in depicting his journey from an abusive childhood, through the trials of an overseas Filipino worker in the Middle East to the challenges... Read More →

Gail N. Harada

Gail N. Harada was born in Honolulu and spent part of her childhood on a military base in Japan. She has a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.F.A. from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and has long been a pillar of the Bamboo Ridge Press —a behind-the-scenes person... Read More →

Craig Howes

Craig Howes is the Director of the Center for Biographical Research, the co-editor of Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, and a Professor of English at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. The co-editor of Teaching Lifewriting Texts (MLA 2007), The Value of Hawaiʻi (2010... Read More →

Kawaii Strong Washburn

Kawai Strong Washburn was born and raised on the Hamakua coast of the Big Island of Hawai‘i. His work has appeared in Best American Nonrequired Reading, McSweeney’s, and Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading, among other outlets. He was a 2015 Tin House Summer Scholar and... Read More →

Saturday October 2, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Special Presentations

Authors

5:30pm HST

Author - Voices of Hawai‘i: Life Stories that Shaped the State

Hear the people who shaped modern Hawai‘i in oral history at its best

Moderator

M. Puakea Nogelmeier

Puakea Nogelmeier is a Professor Emeritus of UH Mānoa, where he taught Hawaiian language for 35 years. After decades of studying Hawaiian language, culture, and history, he co-founded Awaiaulu with Nakila Steele in 2003, to foster a new generation of resource people and fortify the... Read More →

Speakers

Jane Marshall Goodsill

Author and historian Jane Marshall Goodsill was born and raised on O‘ahu. As a Licensed Professional Counselor, she listened to thousands of hours of personal stories. After retirement she served for ten years on her county’s historical commission. Her first book, Voices of Hawai‘i... Read More →

Saturday October 2, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Authors

Authors, Memoir

4:00pm HST

Author - Midnight Water City: A Novel

Chris Mckinney takes a surprising deep dive into sci-fi

“This distinctive novel brims with delightful innovations, razor-sharp social commentary and richly wrought characters, all set against a teeming underwater city.”
—Newsweek

“This gritty noir set in a sci-fi landscape is a real page-turner.”
—Buzzfeed

“Chris McKinney's cyber-noir novel, Midnight, Water City, is a riveting, cautionary tale about our earth-exploited future. His mind-blowing concepts and conceits are so spooky and brilliant one suspects he's the spawn of Asimov and Tesla. A must-read for sci-fi lovers!”
—Kiana Davenport, author of Shark Dialogues

Moderator

Tom Gammarino

Tom Gammarino is author of the novels King of the Worlds and Big in Japan and the novella Jellyfish Dreams. Recent shorter works have appeared in Entropy, The Tahoma Literary Review, Bamboo Ridge, and Hawai'i Pacific Review, among others. He has a PhD in English from the University... Read More →

Speakers

Chris McKinney

Chris McKinney was born in Honolulu and grew up in Kahaluu on the island of Oahu. He is the author of Midnight, Water City, book one of the Water City trilogy. He has written six other novels: The Tattoo, The Queen of Tears, Bolohead Row, Mililani Mauka, Boi No Good, and Yakudoshi... Read More →

Sunday October 3, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Authors

Authors, Fiction

5:30pm HST

*Special Presentation - Author –Polyfantastica—A Graphic Novel

A fantastic book by Solomon Robert Nui Enos, i Native Hawaiian artist, illustrator, and visionary

Sopomon Enos’ works are in the public collections of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and Hawai'i State Art Museum. He has led numerous community mural projects and has received art commissions for hotels, corporate offices, public buildings, and schools in Hawai'i. His latest works include murals and augmented-reality installations for Google and Disney.

Moderator

Meleanna Aluli Meyer

Meleanna Aluli Meyer is a prizewinning multi-media artist, educator, filmmaker, author, teacher and community builder, whose paintings and other works are included in all the major collections in Hawai‘i. She graduated from Stanford with Honors in Design/Photography , and has an... Read More →

Speakers

Solomon Enos

Solomon Robert Nui Enos is a Native Hawaiian artist, illustrator, and visionary. Born and raised in Makaha Valley (O‘ahu, Hawai‘i), Solomon hails from the well-known Enos ‘ohana. Solomon has been making art for more than 30 years and is adept at artistic expression in a wide... Read More →

Sunday October 3, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Authors & Performances

Storyteller, Fantasy/Science Fiction

12:00pm HST

Sustainability - The University in the Community

The University of Hawai‘i is both Hawai‘i’s leading educational institution, and also a serves as a major resource for the community.

Moderator

Robert Perkinson

Robert Perkinson is an associate professor of American Studies at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and coordinator of the Better Tomorrow Speaker Series. He is a specialist in race relations, criminal justice, and social movements.

Speakers

Judith D. Lemus

Dr. Lemus is a faculty Specialist at the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology, developing collaborative research, academic, and outreach programs for community members and students. Her work encompasses recent service as the Interim Director of HIMB, and as director of... Read More →

Lee Buenconsejo-Lum

Dr. Lee Ellen Buenconsejo-Lum serves as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at JABSOM. She oversees the continuum of medical education programs and works on strategic alignment with numerous stakeholders to ensure JABSOM’s graduates and faculty are able to meet the needs... Read More →

Michael Bruno

Michael Bruno is the Provost of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. His research and teaching interests include ocean observation systems, climate change, and community resilience. He is the author of more than 100 publications in various aspects of these fields, including the... Read More →

Monday October 4, 2021 12:00pm - 1:00pm HST
Sustainability

Sustainability

4:00pm HST

Hawaiian Culture – Nonfiction Authors & Film -- We Are Maunakea: Aloha ʻĀina Narratives of Protest, Protection, and Place

The Protectors’ experiences in their own words

The lifewriting strategies of the kiaʻi (protectors) who gathered at Puʻuhonua o Puʻuhuluhulu in the summer of 2019 to defend Maunakea against desecration by the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT).
First-hand accounts, academic reflections, creative works, photography, and interviews with kiaʻi from the 2019 front lines and members of the media team.

A Tom Coffman/Meleanna Meyer film
Maunakea Sacred Mountain

Moderator

Meleanna Aluli Meyer

Speakers

Kahele Dukelow

Kahele Dukelow was born and raised on the island of Maui and is a graduate of Baldwin High School. She holds a Bachelorʻs degree in Hawaiian Studies and a Masterʻs degree in Education. She has been a teacher in our Kula Kaiapuni programs on Oʻahu and Maui and a professor of... Read More →

Leilani Portillo

Leilani Portillo (they/she) is a queer Kanaka ʻŌiwi poet, potter, and artist. They were born and raised on occupied Ohlone Territory. Since moving to Hawaiʻi in 2012, they have been exploring their kuleana as a diasporic Kanaka and seek to inspire other diasporic Kanaka to return... Read More →

Punahele

Punahele is a ghetto country moke Hawaiian from Makaha, O'ahu, who stands against anything that is harmful to the ʻāina. He is a Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award winner and Hawaiʻi’s first ever IRON MC Champion, and has been teaching community songwriting and poetry workshops to incarcerated... Read More →

Monday October 4, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Authors

Hawaiian Culture, Hawaiian Nonfiction

5:30pm HST

Poetry - Author - Threshold Habitat

One of Hawai‘i’s leading poets responds to the threat of climate change

Speakers

Arielle Taitano Lowe

Arielle Taitano Lowe is a Chamoru poet and literary scholar from the island of Guam. She is currently a Ph.D. student in the English department at the University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa. Her poetry and creative nonfiction essays can be found in Storyboard: A Journal of Pacific Imagery... Read More →

Craig Santos Perez

Craig Santos Perez is a Chamoru from Guåhan (Guam). He is the author of five books of poetry and the co editor of five anthologies. He is a professor in the English Department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Monday October 4, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Authors

Authors, Poetry

4:00pm HST

Wellness - Lessons for the Next Pandemic

Do we have a viable strategy for next time?

AGENDA

Testing & Tracing strategy for Hawaii
Safe Travels
Herd immunity
Resistance to Vaxxing; Anti-vaxxers
Data & Visualization

Moderator

Ira D. Zunin

Dr. Ira Zunin earned his medical degree from UCLA School of Medicine, completed a residency in Preventive Medicine, and then a Master’s Degree in Public Health. He is medical director of Manakai O Malama Integrative Clinic and Rehabilitation Center and CEO of Global Advisory Services... Read More →

Speakers

Lee Buenconsejo-Lum

Jonathan Dworkin

Jonathan Dworkin is a graduate of the humanities and medicine program at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. As a medical student he travelled to the Kurdish region in Northern Iraq and worked with the Kurdish government to document the sequelae of the chemical weapons attacks... Read More →

Victoria Fan

Victoria Fan is interim director of and associate professor in the Center on Aging at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Her research lab, the Pacific Health Analytics Collaborative, established the Hawaii Behavioral Health Dashboard and Hawaii Pandemic Applied Modeling Work Group... Read More →

Dr. Thomas Lee

Thomas Lee is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, University of Hawaii at Manoa. Thomas was born and raised in Hawaii, attending Punahou School and receiving his BA in Chinese from the University of Notre Dame in 2009. He went on to complete his MPH and PhD at the University... Read More →

Nick Redding

Nick Redding is Executive Director of the Hawaii Data Collaborative. Prior to founding the Collaborative, he served as Director of Social Research and Strategy for the Ulupono Initiative, a Hawaii-focused organization working to promote locally produced food, renewable energy, clean... Read More →

Tuesday October 5, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Wellness

Wellness

5:30pm HST

Wellness - A Unified Approach to Homelessness

A Unified Approach to Homelessness in Hawai‘i

AGENDA

Covid impact/implications
DOH/BHHSURG / Resilience Hubs
DOH Hawaii Behavioral Health Dashboard
HPD Honu Program

Moderator

Laura Thielen

Laura Thielen is the Executive Director of Partner In Care (PIC). PIC is a support organization for homeless service and housing providers on Oahu. Laura has worked with those experiencing houselessness for more than 30 years and believes that housing is healthcare and that we can... Read More →

Speakers

Connie Mitchell

Connie Mitchell has been focused on ending homelessness for nearly 15 years as the Executive Director of IHS, The Institute for Human Services. During her tenure, IHS has grown to offer shelter at 9 sites, including medical respite, assertive homeless outreach targeting the most chronically... Read More →

Scott Morishige

Scott Morishige currently serves as the Governor’s Coordinator on Homelessness, and is the point person for all the homeless issues in the state. Scott works closely with Governor David Ige and his cabinet to provide for broad policy direction and coordination for Hawaii’s many... Read More →

A/Lt. Joseph "Dan" O'Neal

Joseph O’Neal is a Sergeant in the Honolulu Police Department with 13 years of service who currently overseers the various initiatives of the Community Outreach Unit as the Acting Lieutenant. Sergeant O’Neal worked as a patrol officer from 2008 to 2013 and a Narcotics Vice gambling... Read More →

Tuesday October 5, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Wellness

Wellness

4:00pm HST

Sustainability - Hawai‘i’s Action Plans: Green Model for the Planet?

Hawai‘i Action Plans: Is Hawaii'i a Green Model for the Planet?

AGENDA

HGG/Nainoa Thompson video/Island hub
Impact of pandemic on climate change perception
Prospects for Paris Agreement & HI Act 32 Mandates
Aloha+ Challenge
Aloha+ Dashboard
Climate Ready Hawai‘i
2030 Climate Decade
C&C Climate Action Plan(CAP) 5yr plan
Nainoa Thompson video

Moderator

Makena Coffman

Makena Coffman is the Director for the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Institute for Sustainability and Resilience. She is a Professor of Urban and Regional Planning and Research Fellow with the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization, and Chair of the City & County... Read More →

Speakers

Celeste Connors

Celeste Connors, Executive Director, Hawai'i Green Growth Local2030 Hub, has twenty years of experience working at the intersection of economic, environment, energy, and international development policy. She previously served as the Director for Environment and Climate Change at the... Read More →

Matthew Gonser

Matthew Gonser serves as the City and County of Honolulu Chief Resilience Officer and Executive Director of the City’s Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency. He joined the City and the Resilience Office in October 2017 and previously served as Coastal and Water... Read More →

Anukriti Hittle

Anukriti (Anu) Hittle staffs the state of Hawai'i’s Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission, and is Adjunct Fellow at the East-West Center. Prior to that she was a climate change researcher with the World Resources Institute, an activist at Greenpeace, and an instructor... Read More →

Wednesday October 6, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Sustainability

Sustainability

5:30pm HST

Sustainability - Transforming Hawai‘i Tourism

How do we transform Hawai‘i Tourism?

AGENDA

HTA Destination Management Action Plans
Regenerative Tourism
Other models of destination management: Venice, NZ
Tech/apps for over tourism management

Moderator

Stewart Yerton

Stewart Yerton reports on business and the economy for Honolulu Civil Beat. Those are subjects he spent more than a decade reporting on — at publications in New York, New Orleans and Honolulu.

Speakers

Frank Haas

Frank Haas is President of Marketing Management, a consultancy focused on travel and tourism. He is the former Dean of Kapi‘olani Community College’s Hospitality programs and has held executive positions in higher education, tourism and hospitality, food service, and high tech... Read More →

Kalanai Kaanaana

Kalani Ka‘anā‘anā is the Chief Brand Officer of the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), and isresponsible for overseeing HTA’s various initiatives outlined in its 2020-2025 Strategic Plan in theareas of community empowerment, stewardship of the Hawaiian culture, preservation... Read More →

Pauline Sheldon

Pauline Sheldon is Professor Emerita, University of Hawai’i, School of Travel Industry Management. Her current research areas include regenerative and transformative tourism. She was the first woman President of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism, co-founded the... Read More →

Wednesday October 6, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Authors

Sustainability

8:30am HST

*Special Presentation - Sustainability - Doughnut Economics (In partnership with the UH Mānoa Better Tomorrow Speaker Series)

“I read this book with the excitement that the people of his day must have read John Maynard Keynes’s General Theory. It is brilliant, thrilling, and revolutionary. Drawing on a deep well of learning, wisdom, and deep thinking, Kate Raworth has comprehensively reframed and redrawn economics. It is entirely accessible, even for people with no knowledge of the subject. I believe that Doughnut Economics will change the world.”―George Monbiot, author; columnist at The Guardian

“Raworth’s magnum opus. . . . A fascinating reminder to business leaders and economists alike to stand back at a distance to examine our modern economics."―Forbes, “Best Business Books of 2017”

Moderator

Kamana Beamer

Kamanamaikalani Beamer, PhD, is a full professor at the University of Hawaiʻi-Mānoa with a dual appointment in the School of Hawaiian Knowledge and Richardson School of Law. Inspired by international knowledge exchange, his recent work explores how aloha ʻāina and the Circular... Read More →

Speakers

Kate Raworth

Kate Raworth is the creator of the Doughnut of social and planetary boundaries, and co-founder of Doughnut Economics Action Lab. Her internationally best-selling book Doughnut Economics: seven ways to think like a 21st century economist has been translated into over 20 languages... Read More →

Thursday October 7, 2021 8:30am - 9:30am HST
UH Mānoa BetterTomorrow Speaker Series

Sustainability, Nonfiction

4:00pm HST

Innovation – Academy for Creative Media Animation Showcase

An Academy of Creative Media Animation Showcase

ACM is a catalyst for developing 21st century jobs in the global creative marketplace right here in Hawai‘I and as a platform for our indigenous stories to be told through cinema, video games, computer animation and transmedia to the broadest possible audience.

Moderator

Laura Margulies

Laura Margulies has been creating hand-painted animated films and commissioned work for 30 years.Her work combines motion, color, texture, live action, rhythm and sound to create award-winning,expressive media that has been screened worldwide. Laura recently completed a new short... Read More →

Speakers

Gavin Arucan

Gavin Arucan is a Hawaiʻi-based storyboard artist and filmmaker with a B.A. in Animation from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Currently, Gavin storyboards on the web series, Helluva Boss. Previously, they have directed several animated short films, including The Pākalā Kids... Read More →

Briana Smith

Briana Smith is a recent graduate of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Creative Media program. Previously, she co-directed a film that was screened at the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival, directed a film that was screened in Shanghai, China through the UH SMART Program... Read More →

Kalilinoe Detwiler

As a kanaka artist and scholar, Kalilinoe Detwiler explores paths of cultural perseverance by expressing ancestral knowledge in the present through animation and creative writing. She is pursuing an English MA at the University of Hawaiʻi and animates Hawaiian moʻolelo for Indigenous... Read More →

Thursday October 7, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Innovation Future

Innovation Future

5:30pm HST

Innovation – Academy for Creative Media Video & Game Design Showcase

An Academy of Creative Media Game Design Showcase

ACM - West O‘ahu students will present their completely playable and original games that they have built from
scratch on game engines (ie Unity). They will share their experiences working on pseudo game development
teams to take a concept into production.

Moderator

Davin Hanaoka

Davin Hanaoka is an adjunct in the Creative Media program at UH West Oahu. His long time hobby in gaming and his educational background in mathematics and computer science has led him to the program where teaches the students the value of curiosity and critical thinking.

Speakers

Jordan Bellesteros

Jordan Ballestors is a Junior in the Creative Media program concentrating in game design and development. He developed his love for computer programming through his game development courses.

Brittany Lindo

Brittany Lindo is a Junior in the Creative Media program concentrating in game design and development. She has a passion for storytelling through games.

Michelle Zheng

Michelle Zheng is in her second to last semester at UH West Oahu in the Creative Media program concentrating in general creative media. She has spent the past 2 years as the editor in chief of the student newspaper called the Hoot.

Thursday October 7, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Innovation Future

Innovation Future

4:00pm HST

Author - Biography - Empire’s Mistress, Starring Isabel Rosario Cooper

A failed love affair between a venerated war hero and a young Filipina actress caught within the violent histories of U.S. imperialism

In Empire's Mistress Vernadette Vicuña Gonzalez follows the life of Filipina vaudeville and film actress Isabel Rosario Cooper, who was the mistress of General Douglas MacArthur. If mentioned at all, their relationship exists only as a salacious footnote in MacArthur's biography—a failed love affair between a venerated war hero and a young woman of Filipino and American heritage. Following Cooper from the Philippines to Washington, D.C. to Hollywood, where she died penniless, Gonzalez frames her not as a tragic heroine, but as someone caught within the violent histories of U.S. imperialism.

Moderator

Kim Compoc

Kim Compoc is an assistant professor of history at University of Hawaiʻi - West O‘ahu. Her work has been published in Amerasia, Journal of Asian American Studies, Frontiers: A Women’s Studies Journal, and Q&A: Voices from Queer Asian North America.

Speakers

Vernadette Vicuña Gonzales

Vernadette Gonzalez is Professor of American Studies and Director of the Honors Program at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. She is the author of two books, Securing Paradise: Tourism and Militarism in Hawai‘i and the Philippines (2013) and Empire's Mistress, Starring Isabel... Read More →

Friday October 8, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Authors

Authors, Nonfiction/Biography

5:30pm HST

Authors – Nonfiction - Leadership – A Conversation

Two exemplary Hawai‘i teachers discuss their approaches to leadership

Speakers

Jan Iwase

Jan Iwase spent 45 years as an educator in Hawai`i. After retiring in 2018, she wrote two books. The first, Leading with Aloha: From the Pineapple Fields to the Principal’s Office, was published in 2019. Her second book, Educating with Aloha: Reflections from the Heart on Teaching... Read More →

Rusty Komori

Rusty Komori was the Head Coach of the Punahou Boy’s Varsity Tennis Team for 22 years, winning 22 consecutive State Championships, which is the longest streak in the United States in all sports. He is the author of two best-selling books Beyond The Lines, and Beyond The Game... Read More →

Friday October 8, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Authors

Authors, Nonfiction/Leadership

4:00pm HST

Author – Memoir - From the Desk of the Attorney General

A Hawai‘i Attorney General interviewed by his Governor

Memoirist David Louie served as Attorney General under Gov. Neil Abercrombie.

Moderator ex-Gov Neil Abercrombie served in the Honolulu City Council, the House and Senate of the state legislature, in the US House of Representatives, and finally as Governor of Hawai‘i 2010-2014.

Moderator

Gov. Neil Abercrombie

Former Governor Neil Abercrombie served as the seventh Governor of Hawaii from 2010 to 2014. From 1975 to 1979 he served in the Hawaii House of Representatives and was subsequently elected to the Hawaii Senate. Abercrombie won a seat in the US House of Representatives in 1986, and... Read More →

Speakers

David Louie

David M. Louie is a civil trial lawyer at Kobayashi Sugita & Goda, LLP in Honolulu, Hawai‘I, and also serves as a mediator and arbitrator. He was Hawai‘i’s Attorney General from 2011- 2014. He has served as president, vice president and director of the Hawai‘i State Bar Association... Read More →

Saturday October 9, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Authors

Authors, Memoir

5:30pm HST

*Special Presentation - Author – Memoir - Heart of Fire: An Immigrant Daughter’s Story

An immigrant daughter forges a major political career in a male-dominated world

“[A] sparkling, revelatory memoir.” —Oprah Daily

“Absolutely incredible.” —Mika Brzezinksi, co-host, Morning Joe

“An epic, heart-tugging journey.” —Glamour

“If a life can be called implausible, Mazie Hirono has lived it. In Heart of Fire, she tells an astonishingly compelling story. As a child born in postwar Japan, she crossed an ocean with her brother and mother, grew up in poverty in paradisiacal Hawaii, and emerged as a fiery voice and agent of change in the male-dominated, rough-and-tumble worlds of American politics. Powerful, poignant, and beautifully told, Heart of Fire is her inspiring, singular story.” —George Takei, New York Times bestselling author of They Called Us Enemy

REGISTER HERE TO ACCESS THE VIDEO STREAM

Moderator

Denby Fawcett

Denby Fawcett is a columnist for Honolulu Civil Beat. She formerly worked at KITV-4-News, the ABC News affiliate in Hawaii. She reported for KITV for 23 years, most recently as chief political editor. Denby has been a news reporter since she was 15 years old, when she wrote a... Read More →

Speakers

US Sen. Mazie Hirono

Senator Mazie K. Hirono is a graduate of the University of Hawai‘i, Manoa and the Georgetown University Law Center. She has served in the Hawai‘i House of Representatives (1981-1994), as Hawai‘i's lieutenant governor (1994-2002), and in the U.S. House of Representatives (2006-2013... Read More →

Saturday October 9, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Special Presentations

Authors, Memoir

2:30pm HST

Theatre for Young Audiences -Interstellar Cinderella: A Musical

Speakers

Taylor Bogan

Taylor Bogan is a performer, director, educator and third year MFA candidate in Theater for Young Audiences and Acting at The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. She is most interested in children’s theater that challenges preconceived gender norms, and pieces that instill confidence... Read More →

Jill Jackson

Jill Jackson is currently pursuing her MFA in Theatre for Young Audiences at UHM and plays one head of the two-headed Fairy GodBot in Interstellar Cinderella. This native Texan enjoys being a storyteller in many art forms and is delighted to share this fun twist on a classic sto... Read More →

Karese Kaw-uh

Karese Kaw-uh (Hulla) is pursuing her MFA in Theater for Young Audiences at UH Mānoa and is thrilled to be performing again. She has worked both on stage and behind the scenes with the Virginia Stage Company and is excited to be involved with the local community here in Hawaiʻi... Read More →

Sunday October 10, 2021 2:30pm - 3:30pm HST
Authors & Performances

Authors

4:00pm HST

*Special Presentation - Author: Fiction – The Island of Sea Women

Two women divers and lifetime friends on an island between two warring empires

“A mesmerizing new historical novel” (O, The Oprah Magazine)

"Lisa See is a New York Times bestselling author, a thorough researcher and a wonderful storyteller. In this novel, she seamlessly weaves history, tradition and culture into a heartfelt story about love and forgiveness. It’s an unforgettable read."
—Toronto Star

"I was spellbound the moment I entered the vivid and little-known world of the diving women of Jeju. Set amid sweeping historical events, The Island of Sea Women is the extraordinary story of Young-sook and Mi-ja, of women’s daring, heartbreak, strength, and forgiveness. No one writes about female friendship, the dark and the light of it, with more insight and depth than Lisa See."
—Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings

"I loved The Island of Sea Women from the very first page. Lisa See has created an enthralling, compelling portrait of a unique culture and a turbulent time in history, but what's really remarkable about this novel is the characters—two women whose lifelong friendship is tested during impossibly difficult times. Compelling, heart-wrenching, and beautifully written, The Island of Sea Women will plunge you into a world and a story you've never read before and remind you how powerful women can and must be to survive."
—Kristin Hannah, author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone

Moderator

Connie Hale

Connie Hale is a San Francisco–based journalist. Her award-winning features on hula, slack-key guitar, the sovereignty movement, the Hawaiian language, Big Island cowboys, and Spam musubi have appeared in the Atlantic, National Geographic Adventure, Afar, Smithsonian, the Los... Read More →

Speakers

Lisa See

Lisa See is the New York Times bestselling author of The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, Shanghai Girls, China Dolls, and Dreams of Joy, which debuted at #1. She is also the author of On Gold Mountain, which tells the story of her Chinese... Read More →

Sunday October 10, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Authors

Authors, Fiction

5:30pm HST

Authors - Fiction - Radar Girls: A Novel of World War II & Ring of Fire

The little-known women of Hawaii recruited after Pearl Harbor to staff the islands' radar stations

An extraordinary story inspired by the real Women’s Air Raid Defense, where an unlikely recruit and her sisters-in-arms forge their place in WWII history.

“A wow of a book…[that is] a captivating story of friendship, heartbreak and true love. Highly recommend!” —Karen Robards, New York Times bestselling author of The Black Swan of Paris

Amazon Editors’ Pick of the Month

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Patrick Featherstone - hero of Sea of Fire - frantically tries to unravel a plot by North Korean terrorists to destroy the Tokyo Olympics.

Rings of Fire is another winner, a very current take on what’s going on in Japan. It’s a great follow up to Sea of Fire. Shepherd writes another fast paced, fast action, fast moving, hard to put down novel about Patrick Featherstone. If you loved Sea of Fire like I did, you’ll love Rings of Fire as well.

Moderator

Tyler McMahon

Tyler McMahon is the author of the novels How the Mistakes Were Made, Kilometer 99, Dream of Another America, and One Potato. Tyler is a Professor of English at Hawai`i Pacific University and the editor of the Hawai`i Pacific Review.

Speakers

Sara Ackerman

Sara Ackerman is a Hawai'i born author of WWII historical fiction. Her books have been labeled “unforgettable” by Apple Books, “empowering & deliciously visceral” by Book Riot, and New York Times bestselling authors Kate Quinn and Madeline Martin have praised Sara’s novels... Read More →

Gregory Shepherd

Gregory Shepherd spent his early years in New Jersey, London, England, New York City's Lower East Side, and Honolulu. He lived in Japan for four years studying Zen Buddhism at a temple in Kamakura. Sea of Fire is the culmination of travel to South Korea, as well as voluminous research... Read More →

Sunday October 10, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Authors

Authors, Fiction, Thrillers

4:00pm HST

Hawaiian Culture: Author - Everything Ancient Was Once New: Indigenous Persistence from Hawai‘i to Kahiki

The concept of Kahiki, both a symbol of ancestral connection and the potential that comes with remembering and acting upon that connection

In Everything Ancient Was Once New, Emalani Case explores Indigenous persistence through the concept of Kahiki, a term that is at once both an ancestral homeland for Kānaka Maoli (Hawaiians) and the knowledge that there is life to be found beyond Hawaiʻi’s shores. Kahiki is therefore both a symbol of ancestral connection and the potential that comes with remembering and acting upon that connection. It is in Kahiki, and in the sanctuary it creates, that today’s Kānaka Maoli can find safety and reprieve from the continued onslaught of settler colonial violence while confronting some of the uncomfortable and challenging realities of being Indigenous in Hawaiʻi, in the Pacific, and in the world.

Moderator

Samantha Aolani Kailihou

Samantha Aolani Kailihou is originally from Mānoa, Oʻahu and currently lives in Puna, Hawaiʻi. She is the Senior ʻŌiwi Research and Design Consultant for Hālau Kupukupu, Kamehameha Hawaiʻi Campus and is an advocate for Hawaiian education and the sustained growth of ʻŌlelo... Read More →

Speakers

Emalani Case

Emalani Case is a Lecturer in Pacific Studies at Victoria University of Wellington in Aotearoa. She is a writer, teacher, and aloha ʻāina deeply engaged in issues of Indigenous rights and representation, colonialism and decolonization, and environmental and social justice. She is... Read More →

Monday October 11, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Hawaiian Culture

Hawaiian Culture, Hawaiian Nonficiton

5:30pm HST

Hawaiian Culture: Author - Nānā I Ke Kumu, Helu ʻEkolu (Volume III) (Sponsored by the Lili'uokalani Trust)

This Vol III of the classic Nānā i ke Kumu presents ancient and fundamental Hawaiian values and traditions

This third volume of Nānā i ke Kumu presents ancient and fundamental Hawaiian values and traditions associated with grieving and healing practices with the goal of addressing modern-day family conflicts, including drug addiction, abandonment, divorce, incarceration, and domestic violence. This book is intended to inspire those who work with Hawaiian families as well as individuals―teachers, clergy, medical practitioners, social workers, law enforcement, and community leaders. It will empower individuals who seek to integrate a more meaningful understanding of Hawaiian beliefs into their lives. The authors have strived to represent the collective mana‘o of Tūtū Pukui and their respective kūpuna, and the individuals with whom they have worked for decades.

Moderator

Ku'u Kauanoe

Kuʻu Kauanoe, Digital Producer and Reporter, Honolulu Civil Beat, was born and raised on Oʻahu, she’s spent most of her life on the Westside, graduating from Kapolei High School in 2011 and University of Hawai‘i-West Oahu in 2016.Kuʻu holds a dual degree in English literature... Read More →

Speakers

Imaikalani Kalahele

Imaikalani Kalahele, author of Kalahele, is a Hawaiian (Maoli) artist, poet, and philosopher. For the first time, the Nānā I Ke Kumu book series contain original artwork and poetry in Helu ʻEkolu, Volume III. This book features the bold symbols, ʻōiwi imagery, and thought-provoking... Read More →

Valli Kalei Kanuha

Valli Kalei Kanuha was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. She thanks her grandmother, Becky Niniaukealohaonalanielua Arce Kanuha and her mother, Chitose Araki Kanuha for their unconditional love. Aunty Malia Craver honored Kalei with her blessings to work on this sacred project, for... Read More →

Dennis Kauahi

Dennis’s career spanned 40 years at Lili’uokalani Trust. A master practitioner of ho’oponopono, he credits kūpuna Mary Kawena Pukuʻi, Nahaleʻelua Mahuiki and Malia Craver. In his endeavors, Hawaiian culture and language are foundational. Dennis values connections with the... Read More →

Lynette Paglinawan

In the 1960s, Richard and Lynette Paglinawan became trained social workers. Engaged by Liliʻuokalani Trust to help Hawaiian children and their families, they were ill prepared to deal with culturally Hawaiian-based problems: Richard with a case on anai and Lynette with a case on... Read More →

Monday October 11, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Hawaiian Culture

Hawaiian Culture, Hawaiian Nonficiton

4:00pm HST

Wellness - The Lonely Crowd: The Psychological Impact of COVID-19

The enforced isolation in the pandemic exacerbated every kind of stress and abuse

AGENDA

Covid Isolation
Stress/depression
Domestic Abuse
Child abuse
Alcohol, Opioids, Vaping
Crystal Meth epidemic

Moderator

Maya Soetoro-Ng

Dr. Maya Soetoro is a Consultant on the International Team at the Obama Foundation and a Faculty Specialist at the University of Hawaiʻi. Previously, she was the Director of the Matsunaga Institute for Peace at the University of Hawaiʻi where, in addition to leading outreach and... Read More →

Speakers

Gerald Busch

Gerald Busch, MD, MPH is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Psychiatry, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Addiction Psychiatry, and Forensic Psychiatry. Dr. Busch attended the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School where he received his doctorate... Read More →

Jessica Rosenfeld

Dr. Jessica Rosenfeld is a licensed clinical psychologist, currently practicing at Manakai O Mālama. She earned her PsyD from the University of Denver and is a member of the National Register of Health Service Psychologists. Dr. Rosenfeld works with a variety of concerns in therapy... Read More →

Allana Coffee

Allana Coffee, Ph.D., a graduate of UH Manoa, is a Clinical and Education Psychologist, consultant and Co-Founder of the Honolulu Psychology Collective, a mental health group practice. Dr. Coffee is active in several community associations and for play, Dr. Coffee enjoys the humanities... Read More →

Tuesday October 12, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Wellness

Wellness

5:30pm HST

Wellness - COVID's Gender Inequities

COVID-19 highlighted and aggravated gender inequities

AGENDA

What COVID Exacerbated and Revealed
Gender Inequity
Sexual Abuse
Child Abuse
State Commission Feminist Economic Recovery Plan

Moderator

Anita Hofschneider

Anita Hofschneider is a reporter covering social issues for Honolulu Civil Beat. She previously covered city and state politics, the environment, land use and housing. Her work has won multiple national, regional and local awards. She graduated from Harvard with honors in 2012 and... Read More →

Speakers

Kealoha Fox

Dr. Kealoha Fox is Native Hawaiian Liaison at AlohaCare, a non-profit health plan in Hawai‘i, where sheoversees organizational initiatives serving Native Hawaiians among the Medicaid and Medicare dualeligible population across all islands. In 2019, the Obama Foundation named Kealoha... Read More →

Denise Konan

Dr. Denise Eby Konan is Dean of the College of Social Sciences and Professor of Economics at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa (UHM). She is a Research Fellow at the University of Hawai'i Economic Research Organization (UHERO), where she previously served as the Director of the... Read More →

Nanci Kreidman

Nanci Kreidman, M.A. is CEO and Co-Founder of the Domestic Violence Action Center (DVAC). She has been working for 35 years addressing domestic violence. Nanci has served on many committees in the community and through appointments by the Governor, Chief Justice, Mayor and Attorney... Read More →

Tuesday October 12, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Wellness

Wellness

4:00pm HST

Sustainability - Diversify to What?

Everyone says Hawai‘i has to Diversify—but diversify to what?

AGENDA

Inequality
Exodus of the young
ALICE — Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.
Scale and Tyranny of Distance\
Financing startups
Defeating Geography
Movers & Shakas—inviting Mainland Hawaiians and other “exiles” to come home and work in Hawai‘i
Remote Work in Hawaii for Mainland enterprises.

Moderator

Chad Blair

Chad Blair, Politics and Opinion Editor, Honolulu Civil Beat, has been a writer, editor and teacher in Honolulu for more than 25 years. His job as reporter and editor is to cover Hawai‘i, especially how political decisions impact people and communities. Chad has worked as a journalist... Read More →

Speakers

Nicole Lim

Nicole Lim is the director of Movers and Shakas, which aims to bring together purpose-driven professionals, especially returning kama’āina, to actively contribute to Hawaiʻi. Nicole has 15 years of experience in ecommerce and strategic consulting. She was born and raised in Hawaiʻi... Read More →

Steven Bond-Smith

Steven Bond-Smith joined UHERO as an Assistant Professor in 2021. Steven’s research focuses on understanding the role of distance and scale for productivity and growth in small and isolated economies such as Hawai’i. Prior to joining UHERO he was a Senior Research Fellow at Curtin... Read More →

Patrick Sullivan

Founder, Chair and CEO, Oceanit Laboratories

Patrick K. Sullivan is the Founder, Chair and CEO of Oceanit Laboratories, which produces disruptive innovation in the fields of aerospace, energy, defense, AI, nanotechnology, health, and more. He holds a Ph.D. in Ocean Engineering from the University of Hawaii, Manoa and a BS in... Read More →

Omar Sultan

Omar Sultan is an investor, mentor, and community builder who believes entrepreneurship and innovation is key to shaping the world’s future for the better. Dedicated to empowering innovators, Omar is the co-founder of Sultan Ventures, a boutique venture investment firm, and its... Read More →

Wednesday October 13, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Sustainability

Sustainability

5:30pm HST

Sustainability - Circular Economics for Hawaii

The goal of constant growth leads to greater inequality—circular economics is a promising solution for Hawai‘i

AGENDA

Aina Aloha Economic Futures
Circular Economy (CE)
Biocultural values
Economics of recycling
Extended producer kuleana
Disposable foodware
Plastics
Zero Waste
Regenerative Tourism

Moderator

Kamana Beamer

Speakers

Sumner LaCroix

Sumner La Croix is Professor Emeritus in the University of Hawai‘i-Mānoa Department of Economics and a research fellow with the University of Hawai‘i Economic Research Organization. His research focuses on the economic history of Hawai‘i and Australia, and institutional change... Read More →

Matthew Lynch

Matthew Kamakani Lynch has worked in a broad range of community-based sustainable development projects from Laos to Mongolia to Vanuatu; from building rural community resilience through farmer trainings, to sustainable economic development, to catalyzing institutional change through... Read More →

Kirsten Oleson

Kirsten Oleson is an Associate Professor of Ecological Economics with the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Her research program uses insights from the natural and social sciences to study the reciprocal relationships... Read More →

Wednesday October 13, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Sustainability

Sustainability

1:00pm HST

Authors - Peril

Limited Capacity full

The #1 New York Times Best Seller

Moderator

Mindy Marqués

Mindy Marqués joined Simon & Schuster in 2020 as Vice President and Executive Editor after a 30-year career as a journalist. Prior to book publishing, Marqués was publisher and executive editor of the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald and Florida Regional Editor for McClatchy. During... Read More →

Speakers

Bob Woodward

Bob Woodward is an associate editor at The Washington Post and the author of 20 national bestselling books, including 14 #1 New York Times bestsellers.

Robert Costa

Robert Costa is a national political reporter at The Washington Post. He previously served as moderator and managing editor of Washington Week on PBS.

Thursday October 14, 2021 1:00pm - 2:00pm HST
Authors

Authors

4:00pm HST

Innovation - Disruptive Platforms Technologies

A Hawai‘i company creates disruptive global platform technologies

Moderator

Roger Jellinek

Speakers

Patrick Sullivan

Founder, Chair and CEO, Oceanit Laboratories

Thursday October 14, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Innovation Future

Innovation Future

5:30pm HST

Innovation - West Kaua'i Energy Project

A “perpetual motion“ energy machine powered by the sun

Moderator

Brittany Lyte

Brittany Lyte is a reporter for Civil Beat who specializes in watchdog reporting, narrative storytelling and coverage of neighbor island and social issues. Prior to joining Civil Beat, she juggled a freelance writing career and appeared in publications including The Wall Street Journal... Read More →

Speakers

David Bissell

David Bissell has served as the President & CEO at Kauaʻi Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) since 2010. In March of 2017, KIUC drew international attention when the world’s largest utility-scale solar-plus-battery facility, developed by Tesla, was unveiled. KIUC and AES are... Read More →

Thursday October 14, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Innovation Future

Innovation Future

12:00pm HST

*Special Presentation: Author - The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet (In partnership with the UH Mānoa Better Tomorrow Speaker Series)

The deliberate assault on climate science, and how it can be reversed

Moderator

Makena Coffman

Speakers

Michael E. Mann

Michael E. Mann is Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State, with joint appointments in the Department of Geosciences and the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute (EESI). He is also director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center (ESSC). Dr. Mann received his undergraduate degrees in Physics and Applied Math from the University of California at Berkeley, an M.S. degree in Physics from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in Geology & Geophysics from Yale University. His research involves the use of theoretical models... Read More →

Friday October 15, 2021 12:00pm - 1:00pm HST
UH Mānoa BetterTomorrow Speaker Series

Authors, Nonfiction

5:30pm HST

Authors - My Heart Smiles: Life Stories from an Audacious Academic

A science nerd with a wild sense of humor

Moderator

Jane Marshall Goodsill

Speakers

Virginia Hinshaw

Dr. Virginia S. Hinshaw, Chancellor Emeritus of UH Mānoa, is a science nerd with a wild sense of humor and a love of adventure. Whether conducting research, teaching students, leading a university or throwing a javelin, her laugh is her constant companion. Her passion for research... Read More →

Friday October 15, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Authors

Authors, Memoir

5:30pm HST

Author - A Woman in the House

We need a woman in the House, she said, and won

"A Woman in the House" is the story of a true leader, former member of Congress Pat Saiki, a woman whose leadership has made a difference in the lives of so many---inspiring small business women and men, helping families and educating children. It is a book that gives us the secret to true and lasting success and one that should be provided to every young person seeking to find their way in life. Among the many important lessons in the book: Pat Saiki built her career on a foundation of service, and her story provides important insights about how to persevere in the face of great obstacles.
--Patricia Harrison, president and CEO, Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Moderator

Denby Fawcett

Speakers

Pat Saiki

Pat Saiki, born and raised in Hilo on the island of Hawai‘i, one of three daughters of the second-generation Japanese Americans Kazuo and Shizue Fukuda. An educator by training, she spent fourteen years in classrooms in Hawai‘i and on the US mainland. It was her experience in... Read More →

Saturday October 16, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Authors

Authors, Memoir

4:00pm HST

Author - Inviting Interruptions: Wonder Tales of the 21st Century

Challenging the popular perception of fairy tales

Moderator

Cristina Bacchilega

Cristina Bacchilega is Professor Emerita of English at the University of Hawai‘i-Mānoa. Her books include Legendary Hawai‘i and the Politics of Place: Tradition, Translation, and Tourism; Fairy Tales Transformed? 21st-Century Adaptations and the Politics of Wonder; and The... Read More →

Jennifer Orme

Jennifer Orme is an independent scholar, editor, and writer. She lives in Toronto and teaches online for University of Winnipeg. Jennifer has published on fairy tales in academic journals and books. She’s also written feature magazine articles, multi-sensory fiction, and creative... Read More →

Speakers

Joellyn Rock

Joellyn Rock, Associate Professor of Art & Design at University of Minnesota Duluth, seeks new ways to tell old tales. Using digital tools and experimental multimedia, she loves to morph fairy tales for new audiences. Rock recently illustrated Jack Zipes’ adaptation of Tistou, the... Read More →

Veronica Schanoes

Veronica Schanoes is an American author of fantasy stories and an associate professor in the department of English at Queens College, CUNY. Her novella “Burning Girls” was nominated for the Nebula Award and the World Fantasy Award and won the Shirley Jackson Award for Best Novella... Read More →

Nisi Shawl

Nisi Shawl edited New Suns: Speculative Fiction by People of Color, winner of the World Fantasy and Ignyte awards. Shawl wrote the 2016 Nebula finalist Everfair and the 2008 Tiptree/Otherwise winning collection Filter House. In 2005 they co-wrote Writing the Other: A Practical Approach... Read More →

Sunday October 17, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Authors

Authors, Non-Fiction Fantasy

5:30pm HST

*Special Presentation: Author - Buddhism & Race, and Other Topics (In partnership with the UH Mānoa Better Tomorrow Speaker Series & Sponsored by BDK Hawai'i)

The profound connection between Buddhism and creativity

Moderator

George Tanabe

George Tanabe, Moderator, is Emeritus professor of religion and past Chair of the Religion Department at UH Manoa. Dr. Tanabe is President of BDK Hawai'i and BDK America (Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai, the Society for the Promotion of Buddhism). It's mission is to translate all of the Buddhist... Read More →

Speakers

Charles Johnson

Dr. Charles Johnson, University of Washington (Seattle) professor emeritus and the author of 25 books, is a novelist, philosopher, essayist, literary scholar, short-story writer, cartoonist and illustrator, an author of children’s literature, and a screen-and-teleplay writer. A... Read More →

Sunday October 17, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
UH Mānoa BetterTomorrow Speaker Series

Authors

12:00pm HST

*Special Presentation - Music - Makana in Concert at Kawaiaha‘o Church

A concert by one of the greatest slack-key guitarists in a unique setting

Artists

Ken Makuakane

Producer

Makana

Monday October 18, 2021 12:00pm - 1:00pm HST
Special Presentations

Music, Music

5:30pm HST

Hawaiian Culture-Author-Remembering Our Intimacies

Teacher, activist, and three-time national poetry champion

Moderator

Craig Howes

Speakers

Jamaica Osorio

Dr. Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio is an aloha ʻāina artist / activist / educator born and raised in Pālolo Valley to parents Jonathan and Mary Osorio. She is a past three-time national poetry champion, and a current Assistant Professor of Indigenous and Native Hawaiian Politics... Read More →

Monday October 18, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Hawaiian Culture

Hawaiian Culture, Hawaiian Nonfiction

10:00am HST

Storyteller Ingrid Nixon -Strange Things Done in the Midnight Sun: Alaska Tales Real and Imagined

In partnership with Mānoa Outreach College & SCEP

Speakers

Ingrid Nixon

Ingrid Nixon is a world-traveling storyteller who whisks listeners away on journeys of the imagination. Exploration nail-biters, tall tales, traditional and personal stories—she tells them all on international expeditions, and at venues around the country, including the National... Read More →

Tuesday October 19, 2021 10:00am - 11:00am HST
Storyteller

International Storyteller

4:00pm HST

Wellness - Cancer Disparities and Survival in Hawai'i

Leading research into cancer rates by ethnicity

Moderator

Brenda Hernandez

Brenda Hernandez, PhD, MPH, is a cancer epidemiologist and Professor at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center. She serves as Principal Investigator of the Hawaii Tumor Registry and Co-Director of the Pathology Core laboratory. Her primary areas of research include infection and cancer... Read More →

Speakers

Erin O'Carroll Bantum

Erin O'Carroll Bantum, PhD, is a health psychologist working as an Associate Professor at the UH Cancer Center. Her work is focused on how to maximize the well-being for people who have been diagnosed with cancer. She does this by testing and delivering interventions to promote physical... Read More →

Sung-shim Lani Park

Dr. S. Lani Park, MPH, PhD, is a cancer epidemiologist at the University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center. Her research focuses on identifying health behavioral, genetic, and epigenetic factors that contributes to the racial/ethnic differences in cancer risk. She received her graduate degrees... Read More →

Loic LeMarchand

Dr. Le Marchand’s research focuses on the biological and lifestyle risk factors for cancer, especially those explaining ethnic/racial disparities. He has conducted many studies in Hawaiʻi, is the founder of the Hawaiʻi Colorectal Cancer Family Registry and, since 2012, has been... Read More →

Stephanie Si Lim

Stephanie Si Lim, MD is an Assistant Professor in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Kapi'olani Women's and Children's Hospital and the University of Hawaii Cancer Center. She graduated from Georgetown University School of Medicine, and completed both her residency and fellowship training... Read More →

Tuesday October 19, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Wellness

Wellness

5:30pm HST

Wellness - Long COVID

The complex after-effects of COVID-19

Moderator

Ira D. Zunin

Speakers

Natascha Ching

Natascha Ching, MD, is a Pediatric Infectious Diseases physician who cares for children with complicated infectious diseases. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she devised a protocol for Multi-system Inflammatory Syndrome in Children associated with COVID-19. She has treated children... Read More →

Bennett Loui

Bennett Loui MD is a primary care provider at Straub Medical Center. He was born in Honolulu, studied at Brown University and Thomas Jefferson University, and completed a Chief Residency in Internal Medicine with the University of Hawai'i. He is currently Chief of Internal Medicine... Read More →

Neal Palafox

Neal A. Palafox, M.D., M.P.H. is currently Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Hawai'i. He is a member of four State COVID-19 response teams and has been a University of Hawai'i West Oahu COVID-19 Contact Tracer program guest lecturer for six of... Read More →

Tuesday October 19, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Wellness

Wellness

10:00am HST

Storyteller Nyla Fujii Babb - Sky Tales

In partnership with Mānoa Outreach College & SCEP

Speakers

Nyla (Ching) Fujii Babb

Of Asian and Native Hawaiian ancestry, Nyla (Ching) Fujii-Babb has been a professional storyteller, artistic director, voiceover talent, producer, and actress for over 40 years in Hawai‘i and on the mainland. She has appeared on stage with Kumu Kahua Theatre Company, Honolulu Theatre... Read More →

Wednesday October 20, 2021 10:00am - 11:00am HST
Storyteller

International Storyteller

4:00pm HST

Sustainability - A Liveable City?

How and Why Honolulu rates high as a Liveable City

Moderator

Kathleen Rooney

Kathleen Rooney, Director of Transportation Policy & Programs, Ulupono Initiative is Ulupono's lead on transportation-related policy and programs in advancement of a cleaner, multimodal transportation system in Hawai‘i that improves people’s quality of life. Current projects... Read More →

Speakers

Renee Espiau

Renee Espiau is the Complete Streets Administrator for the City and County of Honolulu, where she oversees efforts to make our streets safer for all roadway users. She is a graduate of New York University and the University of Oregon (go Ducks!), and was born and raised on Maui.

Christophe "CJ" Johnson

Christophe "CJ" Johnson is a built environment and active transportation specialist with the Hawaii State Department of Health. He is also the community partnerships lead for the COVID-19 Outreach and Public Health Education Initiative. CJ has nearly 2 decades of experience engaging... Read More →

Harrison Rue

Harrison Rue leads Honolulu’s transit-oriented development (TOD) strategies, including neighborhood TOD plans, catalytic projects, connectivity, infrastructure, financial tools, codes and zoning, climate adaptation, green infrastructure, and affordable housing. Rue has developed... Read More →

Wednesday October 20, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Sustainability

Sustainability

10:00am HST

Storyteller Janine Oshiro - 42 & the Moon: Stories on Adulthood and Other Mysteries

In partnership with Mānoa Outreach College & SCEP

Speakers

Janine Oshiro

Janine Oshiro is a massage therapist and writer. She is the author of Pier, winner of the 2010 Kundiman Poetry Prize, published by Alice James Books. She has been awarded the 2011 Elliot Cades Award for Literature in Hawaiʻi for an emerging writer and the 2013 Asian American Literary... Read More →

Thursday October 21, 2021 10:00am - 11:00am HST
Storyteller

International Storyteller

4:00pm HST

Innovation - The Bitcoin Solution for Hawai'i Energy

The physical realities of 100% renewable energy, and an Ingenious solution

Moderator

Sterling Yee

Sterling Yee is the Director of Strategic Consulting Services at Oceanit. The clients he has worked with include the State of Hawai‘i, the City & County of Honolulu and other private industry clients. His recent project experience included the organizational change management (OCM... Read More →

Speakers

Nathaniel Harmon

Nathaniel Harmon attended the University of Hawai‘i Manoa, receiving an MS in Marine Geology and Geochemistry. Involved with Bitcoin since 2013, he combined his formal education with his passion by founding Blockchain Solutions Hawai‘i (BSH) “Hawai‘i’s Blockchain Helpdesk... Read More →

Thursday October 21, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Innovation Future

Innovation Future

5:30pm HST

Innovation - Doug Simons - Director's Vision for the Institute for Astronomy & David Sanders - The Cosmos-Webb Project

The new Director’s vision, and an example of state-of-the art astronomy

Moderator

Roy Gal

Dr. Roy Gal is an Associate Specialist at the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy, where he oversees their outreach program and media relations, teaches, and conducts research. He received his BA in Astronomy from Columbia University and PhD from Caltech. His research focuses... Read More →

Speakers

Doug Simons

Doug Simons received his Bachelor of Science degree in astronomy at the California Institute of Technology in 1985, and his Ph.D. in astronomy at the University of Hawai‘i Institute for Astronomy in 1990, before working as a staff astronomer at the Canada-France-Hawai‘i Telescope... Read More →

David Sanders

Dr. David Sanders is an Astronomer and Professor in the Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii at Manoa. His research focuses on understanding the cosmic origin and evolution of Luminous Infrared Starburst galaxies and Dust Obscured Active Galactic Nuclei. His former student... Read More →

Thursday October 21, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Innovation Future

Innovation Future

4:00pm HST

Author - Nonfiction - Inclusion: How Hawai'i Protected Japanese Americans from Mass Internment, Transformed Itself, and Changed America

Unraveling the deep history of the U.S. “sabotage psychosis”

Moderator

George Tanabe

Speakers

Tom Coffman

Tom Coffman’s work in book and documentary film focuses on the social and political development of Hawai‘i. He was chief political reporter of the Honolulu Star Bulletin (1968-73) and since then has been an independent writer and producer. He is the recipient of the State of Hawaiʻi’s... Read More →

Friday October 22, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Authors

Authors, Nonfiction/History

5:30pm HST

Honolulu Theatre for Youth-Stories of Oceania

World Premiere of a digital theatre production for young audiences

Moderator

Eric Johnson

Eric Johnson is the Artistic Director of Honolulu Theatre for Youth where he is honored to work alongside a team of professional theatre artists and educators creating original work for Hawaii’s students, teachers and families. His work has been supported by the National Endowment... Read More →

Speakers

Moses Goods

Moses Goods is one of Hawaiʻi’s most prominent theatre artists and an Artistic Associate at Honolulu Theatre for Youth. Originally from the island of Maui and now based in Honolulu, he has traveled nationally and internationally performing his original work to a wide range of... Read More →

Friday October 22, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Authors & Performances

Authors

3:30pm HST

*Special Presentation: Poetry - Living Nations, Living Words: A conversation with Joy Harjo and Pacific Poets (Sponsored by Halekulani)

The Poet Laureate’s celebration of indigenous poetry, joined by five Hawai‘i poets
In partnership with the UH Mānoa Better Tomorrow Speaker Series.

Moderator

Craig Santos Perez

Speakers

Joy Harjo, US Poet Laureate

Joy Harjo is the 23d Poet Laureate of the United States, and a world renowned performer and writer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. She is the author of plays, children’s books, two memoirs, and nine books of poetry—among them the anthologies When the Light of the World Was Subdued... Read More →

Brandy Nālani McDougall

Brandy Nālani McDougall is a Kanaka ʻŌiwi poet raised on Maui. She is the author of The Salt-Wind Ka Makani Paʻakai and Finding Meaning: Kaona and Contemporary Hawaiian Literature. She is an associate professor of American Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

No'u Revilla

Noʻu Revilla is a queer ʻŌiwi poet and educator. She is an assistant professor of creative writing at UH-Mānoa and is proud to have taught poetry at Puʻuhuluhulu University in the summer 2019. Her first book of poetry Ask the Brindled is forthcoming from Milkweed Editions in... Read More →

Lehua M. Taitano

Lehua M. Taitano, familian Kabesa yan Kuetu, is a queer Chamoru writer and interdisciplinary artist from Yigu, Guåhan (Guam) and co-founder of Art 25: Art in the Twenty-fifth Century. She is the author of Inside Me an Island and A Bell Made of Stones.

Mahealani Wendt

Mahealani Wendt is the author of the poetry book Uluhaimālama (2007) and the co-editor of Ho`olaule`a: Celebrating 10 Years of Pacific Writing. She has been published in numerous literary journals and anthologies.

Saturday October 23, 2021 3:30pm - 4:30pm HST
Authors

Authors

2:30pm HST

Author – Remembering Our Grandfathers’ Exile: US Imprisonment of Hawai‘i’s Japanese in World War II

The experience of Hawai‘i’s exiled immigrant Japanese in WW II

Moderator

Franklin Odo

Franklin Odo is an author, activist, and historian. He was involved in the movement that created Asian American Studies in the late 1960s. Odo has published widely and taught at numerous colleges and universities. He was founding director of the Smithsonian’s Asian Pacific American... Read More →

Speakers

Gail Y. Okawa

Gail Y. Okawa, professor emerita, English, Youngstown State University, Ohio; visiting scholar, Center for Biographical Research, University of Hawai‘i Mānoa. Since 2002 when a visiting scholar at the Smithsonian Institution, she has explored the experiences of Japanese immigrants... Read More →

Sunday October 24, 2021 2:30pm - 3:30pm HST
Authors

Authors, Memoir

4:00pm HST

Author - Bamboo Ridge #120: Red Dirt - A Novel

A noir take on 1950’s Red Scare in Hawai‘i

Moderator

Roger Jellinek

Speakers

Scott Kikkawa

Scott Kikkawa is a fourth generation Japanese American and native of Hawaii. He is a federal law enforcement officer who writes detective noir fiction set in postwar Honolulu. His debut novel, Kona Winds, was released by Bamboo Ridge Press in November 2019. His follow up novel, Red... Read More →

Sunday October 24, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Authors

Authors, Fiction

5:30pm HST

Author - Fiction - Angel & Hannah: A Novel in Verse

A reimagining of Romeo and Juliet set in 1990s New York City

Moderator

Lee A. Tonouchi

Lee A. Tonouchi's book Okinawan Princess: Da Legend of Hajichi Tattoos won one Skipping Stones Honor Award. His Significant Moments in da Life of Oriental Faddah and Son won da Association for Asian American Studies Book Award. An'den his play Three Year Swim Club wuz one Los... Read More →

Speakers

Ishle Yi Park

Ishle Yi Park is an award~winning writer who is the first woman to become Poet Laureate of Queens, New York. She lives in Hawai'i with her two daughters and loves to garden, swim, dance hula, read and write. For more information, please go to www.ishleyipark.com... Read More →

Sunday October 24, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Authors

Authors, Fiction

4:00pm HST

Hawaiian Culture - Authors - Nonfiction - Mapping Abundance for a Planetary Future

A call for a profound attunement to the elemental forms in order to transform climate events into renewed possibilities for planetary abundance

Moderator

Candace Fujikane

Candace Fujikane is an English professor at the University of Hawaiʻi. She is the author of Mapping Abundance for a Planetary Future: Kanaka Maoli and Critical Settler Cartographies in Hawaiʻi. She has stood as a settler aloha ʻāina to protect lands and waters in Hawaiʻi for... Read More →

Speakers

Puni Jackson

Puni Jackson is Program Director at Ho’oulu ‘Āina. She is a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner and has led endeavors in Hawaiian cultural and ‘āina-based educational programming for over 18 years. She has been instrumental in establishing Hoʻoulu ʻĀina as a healing... Read More →

Hi'ilei Kawelo

Hiʻilei Kawelo has been Paepae o Heʻeia’s Executive Director since 2007 after having served as an educator, facilities manager and Kū Hou Kuapā Coordinator for the organization. Raised in Kahaluʻu by her fishing family, she has been a student to the art and science of lawaiʻa... Read More →

Monday October 25, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Hawaiian Culture

Hawaiian Culture, Hawaiian Nonfiction

5:30pm HST

Hawaiian Culture - Authors - Non-fiction - Detours: A Decolonial Guide to Hawai'i

Decolonial narratives in ways that will forever change how readers think about and move throughout Hawai‘i

Speakers

Hokulani Aikau

Hōkūlani K. Aikau (Kanaka ‘Ōiwi) is a professor at the University of Victoria in the Indigenous Governance Program. She is the author of A Chosen People, A Promised Land: Mormonism and Race in Hawaiʻi (University of Minnesota Press, 2012). With Vernadette V. Gonzalez, she coedited... Read More →

Vernadette Vicuña Gonzales

Monday October 25, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Hawaiian Culture

Hawaiian Culture, Hawaiian Nonfiction

10:00am HST

Storyteller Nuala Hayes - Stories from the turning of the Year! Cailleachai, Hags, and the Other World

In partnership with Mānoa Outreach College & SCEP

Speakers

Nuala Hayes

Nuala Hayes is an actor, storyteller and author, and is currently Chairperson of Storytellers of Ireland/ Aos Scéal Éireann. She trained as an actor at the Abbey Theatre and has performed and toured extensively both in Ireland and abroad. Her interest in storytelling began... Read More →

Tuesday October 26, 2021 10:00am - 11:00am HST
Storyteller

International Storyteller

4:00pm HST

Wellness Covid Triage - Crisis Standards of Care

When ICU’s fill up, Crisis Standards of Care govern triage decisions. What is the basis for the criteria used?

Moderator

Ira D. Zunin

Speakers

Gerald Busch

Lieut. Gov. Josh Green

Lieut. Gov. Josh Green graduated from Swarthmore College and completed his medical training at Pennsylvania State University and the University of Pittsburgh. Upon finishing his residency, Dr. Green joined the National Health Service Corps and was stationed in Hawaii in 2000. He practices... Read More →

Keali‘i Lopez

Keali‘i Lopez was a longtime professional lobbyist and an activist when she was appointed director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs by Gov. Neil Abercrombie . In 2018 she was elected Chair of the Hawai‘i Democratic Party. In 2019 she became executive director... Read More →

Hilton Raethel

Hilton Raethel, MPH, MHA, is President and CEO, Healthcare Association of Hawai’i. He has more than 30 years of experience in the health care industry. He became the President and CEO at the Healthcare Association of Hawaii in May 2017, having previously served in executive roles... Read More →

Tuesday October 26, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Wellness

Wellness

5:30pm HST

Wellness - Healthy Aging

Healthy aging significantly reduces the cost of medical care, and insurance rates for all

Moderator

Kamal Masaki

Kamal Masaki, MD is Professor and Chair of the Department of Geriatric Medicine at the John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai‘i Mānoa. She has over 30 years of experience in education, clinical services and research in aging and dementia, and is a co-author on over... Read More →

Speakers

Colette Browne

Colette Browne is Professor Emerita, Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, and serves on the State’s Policy Advisory Board for Elderly Affairs. Dr. Browne’s scholarly work and service, both nationally and here in Hawai‘i, examines... Read More →

Virginia Hinshaw

Suzanne Chun-Oakland

Susie Chun Oakland served in the Hawaii State Legislature for 26 years, 6 years in the House of Representatives and 20 years in the Senate. She was born and raised in Hawaii, daughter of Phil and Mei-Chih Chun, attended Lanakila Elementary, Kawananakoa Middle, and McKinley High Schools... Read More →

Tuesday October 26, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Wellness

Wellness

10:00am HST

Storyteller Lillian Pang - Vamanos con cuentos

In partnership with Mānoa Outreach College & SCEP

Speakers

Lillian Rodrigues-Pang

Lillian Rodrigues-Pang is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning storyteller. Her performances intertwine the oral tradition with percussion, movement and improvisation to captivate and transport audiences. Born in Australia to a Pipil Indian/Palestinian mother and a Portuguese... Read More →

Wednesday October 27, 2021 10:00am - 11:00am HST
Storyteller

International Storyteller

11:30am HST

Sustainability - Leave or Stay: Managing Risk for Sea Level Rise

The ongoing impact of Sea Leve Rise is predictable—How is this risk to be managed?

Moderator

Karl Kim

Karl Kim is Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at UH Manoa, and Director of the graduate program in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance. He studies transportation, cities, and resilience. Educated at Brown University and M.I.T., he has been a Fulbright scholar to... Read More →

Speakers

Tim Johns

Timothy Johns is the CEO of Zephyr Insurance Company, Hawaii’s leading residential hurricane insurer. He has held numerous executive leadership positions in the private, public and non-profit sectors in Hawaii, including serving as the Chair of the Hawaii Department of Land and... Read More →

Justine W. Nihipali

Justine Nihipali serves as the Program Manager for the Office of Planning & Sustainable Development, Coastal Zone Management Program. She serves on the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Commission, Greenhouse Gas Sequestration Task Force, and Hawaii Invasive Species Council... Read More →

Ed Sniffen

Ed Sniffen is the Deputy Director of the Hawaii Department of Transportation Highways Division and chair of the Committee on Transportation System Security and Resilience (CTSSR). HDOT Highways is moving forward on incorporating resilience into its day-to-day operations through... Read More →

Wednesday October 27, 2021 11:30am - 12:30pm HST
Sustainability

Sustainability

5:30pm HST

Innovation - Global Energy Transformation -- Decarbonizing the World’s Energy System

The urgent need to move away from fossil fuels is well established. What are governments and energy companies doing now to make that change?

Moderator

Vinod Veedu

Dr. Vinod Veedu is the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Oceanit and he is responsible for identifying the strategic direction for the company. He was included in the 2007 the Guinness Book of World records for the creation of the smallest nanobrush. Dr. Veedu was selected as one... Read More →

Speakers

Hani Elshahawi

Hani Elshahawi is a 33 year veteran of the energy industry, spending the last 18 years at Shell with responsibilities that included digitalization lead for Deepwater technologies, GameChanger – Shell’s disruptive technology arm, technology advisor and capabilities manager, and... Read More →

Elena Subia Melchert

Ms. Elena Melchert is a 36 year veteran of the energy industry, recently retiring as Director, Upstream Oil & Gas Research Division at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Her over three decades of experience at U.S. DOE includes managing a range of energy programs, including numerous... Read More →

Tip Meckel

Dr. Tip Meckel is a senior research scientist investigating geologic carbon storage for the Bureau of Economic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin. During his 15 years with the Gulf Coast Carbon Center he has led research focusing on geologic characterization, structural... Read More →

Wednesday October 27, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Innovation Future

Innovation Future

10:00am HST

Storyteller Dovie Thomas - (To and) For all the Grandmothers

In partnership with Mānoa Outreach College & SCEP

Speakers

Dovie Thomason

We are honored to welcome Dovie Thomason, an Indigenous storyteller of Lakota and Plains Apache descent, as well as Scot traveller. The modern appeal of her retellings of traditional stories has garnered her acclaim and respect, as well as awards from the American Library Association... Read More →

Thursday October 28, 2021 10:00am - 11:00am HST
Storyteller

International Storyteller

4:00pm HST

Innovation - Big Data Visualization

Data is typically hoarded and siloed. Pandemic urgency has forced a new culture of transparency and sharing.

Moderator

Chad Blair

Speakers

Victoria Fan

Erin Hughey

Dr. Erin Hughey, Director of PDC Global Operations leads enterprise data programs and global response operations for the center. She architected the largest operationalized national and subnational risk assessment and, in her capacity, serves as the bridge between research, technology... Read More →

Nick Redding

Thursday October 28, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Innovation Future

Innovation Future

5:30pm HST

Innovation - A.I. to E.T The Future of Science & Technology and The Fate of Our Civilization & The Cosmos

A bold look at the coming new world of AI

Moderator

Stewart Yerton

Stewart Yerton reports on business and the economy for Honolulu Civil Beat. Those are subjects he spent more than a decade reporting on — at publications in New York, New Orleans and Honolulu.

Speakers

Jeffrey Watumull

Dr. Jeffrey Watumull is Chief Philosophy Officer and Director of AI at Oceanit, where he endeavors to create human-style AI and discover whether its principles obtain in extralinguistic domains (e.g., physics biology). He is also an affiliated professor at the University of Cambridge... Read More →

Thursday October 28, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Innovation Future

Innovation Future

4:00pm HST

Authors - Bamboo Ridge #119 - Kipuka: Finding Refuge in Times of Change

Five young Hawai‘i poets represent Hawai‘i’s oldest literary journal

Moderator

Donald Carreira Ching

Donald Carreira Ching (he/him/his) was born and raised in Kahaluʻu, on the island of Oʻahu. His poetry and fiction have appeared in publications such as Rio Grande Review, NonBinary Review, and Every Day Fiction. In 2015, his debut novel, Between Sky and Sea: a Family's Struggle... Read More →

Speakers

Joanna Gordon

Joanna Gordon is a writer from the gentrified swamplands of East Honolulu. She is a first-year PhD candidate studying Storytelling and Rhetoric at Indiana University and has degrees from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Western Washington University. Her poems and prose have... Read More →

Navid Najafi aka Illnomadic

Navid Najafi aka Illnomadic is a founding member of the local conscious rap collective, the Super Groupers, and a two-time Nā Hōkū Hanohano Hip Hop Album of the Year award winner. Born in Tehran Iran, Najafi found home when he migrated to Hawai‘i after high school to attend... Read More →

Ngaio Simmons

Ngaio Simmons (she/her, he/him) is a queer writer and performer with a degree in English from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Writing from the diaspora as a Māori poet born and raised away from Aotearoa, New Zealand, her work digs into such themes as diaspora, identity conflict... Read More →

Doug Upp

Decades after quitting bands (Imminent Riot, Patty Judy & The Dirt), canceling his talk show (Shaka Talk), and halting the presses on several zines (Shaka Zine, HoStage, Contraflow), Doug Upp is lucky & grateful his words were recently seen in local magazines Tropic, and The Manifold... Read More →

Friday October 29, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Authors

Authors

5:30pm HST

Author -The Plague Doctors: How Hawaii Battled the Pandemic

It took a guerrilla operation by doctors via social media to force a vital change in the state’s pandemic policy

Moderator

Robert Perkinson

Speakers

Jonathan Dworkin

Friday October 29, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Authors

Authors, Nonfiction

4:00pm HST

Graphic Storytelling: Authors - No One Else, & Manu, The Boy Who Loved Birds

Graphic storytelling –a graphic novelist and an illustrator compare notes

Speakers

R. Kikuo Johnson

R. Kikuo Johnson is a cartoonist born on Maui in 1981. His graphic novels include No One Else, Night Fisher, and The Shark King. He is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker and divides his time working in Brooklyn, teaching at the Rhode Island School of design, and relaxing with... Read More →

Caren Loebel-Fried

Caren Loebel-Fried is an author and artist from Volcano, Hawai`i. Her award-winning books include Manu, the Boy Who Loved Birds, A Perfect Day for an Albatross, and Hawaiian Legends of the Guardian Spirits. Caren works to bring people into the natural world, hoping they will want... Read More →

Saturday October 30, 2021 4:00pm - 5:00pm HST
Authors & Performances

Storyteller

5:30pm HST

Author - The Mailbox Conspiracy: The Inside Story of the Greatest Corruption Case in Hawai'i History

A federal defense attorney turns prosecutor and cracks open a case of corruption that’s still ongoing

Moderator

Nick Grube

Prior to becoming Civil Beat’s Washington D.C. Correspondent, Nick Grube was an investigative reporter focusing on criminal justice and legal affairs, a position that led him to the Kealohas. A police series helped spur the creation of the Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest... Read More →

Speakers

Alexander Silvert

Alexander Silvert, author of The Mailbox Conspiracy,” was raised in New York City and Vermont. After graduating from UCLA and driving a cab in New York, he obtained his JD from Boston College Law School. He was a state and federal public defender in Philadelphia before moving... Read More →

Saturday October 30, 2021 5:30pm - 6:30pm HST
Authors

Authors, Nonfiction

7:00pm HST

Halloween Special: The Sobbing Spirit of Punahou Street, Oiku and the Nine Plates, Testing God

In parntership with Mānoa Outreach College & SCEP
(with permission from the estate of Dr. Glen Grant)

Speakers

Alton Takiyama-Chung

Local boy, Alton Takiyama-Chung grew up with the stories, superstitions, and the magic of the Hawaiian Islands. He tells stories of the Plantation Days, the Japanese-American experience of WWII, Asian folktales, Hawaiian legends, and of course, ghost stories. He has been a featured... Read More →

Kathy Collins

Since the age of 13, Maui girl Kathy Collins has performed as a storyteller, stage and film actress, radio and television personality, stand-up comic, emcee, and dancer. She is also a newspaper columnist (The Maui News) and freelance writer. With her pidgin-speaking alter ego, “Tita... Read More →

Jeff Gere

Jeff Gere was the drama specialist for the City & County of Honolulu Parks Department, where he created and produced for 26 years the Talk Story Festival and a storytelling television and radio series. He has toured Hawaii, the mainland and internationally since retiring in 2014... Read More →

Sunday October 31, 2021 7:00pm - 8:00pm HST
Storyteller

International Storyteller

12:00pm HST

Author - Paddling the Outrigger: Inspiration and Insights on the Journey of a Lifetime

Paddling the Outrigger is at once a memoir and business tutorial, encompassing stories of Waikiki past, the Hawai‘i “Doc” Kelley experienced as a child, the history of Outrigger Hotels and the many people who built the state’s tourism industry, and a firsthand account of the development of Hawai‘i as a global top-tier tourism destination.

Pre-publication Buy the Book Offer: $24.95+hst* free shipping for registered event attendees. *You will receive a link and advance purchase code for your copy of “Paddling the Outrigger” with your registration link for the virtual event.

Moderator

Allison Schaefers

Allison Schaefers is the Waikiki Bureau Chief for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Schaefers has covered Hawaii tourism for nearly two decades. The veteran journalist is an honors graduate of the Henry W. Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia. She has won numerous state... Read More →

Speakers

John DeFries

John De Fries is president and CEO of the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), the State of Hawai‘i agency responsible for strategically managing its support of the tourism industry. Born in Waikīkī, De Fries was raised by family elders steeped in Hawaiian culture. He has more... Read More →

Ray L' Heureux

Ray L’Heureux was a career Marine helicopter pilot, achieving the rank of colonel and commanding two different aviation squadrons. He served as the personal helicopter pilot for President George W Bush and President Barack Obama, and is the author of “Inside Marine One.” He... Read More →

Charles Roy “Chuck” Kelley

Charles Roy “Chuck” Kelley, M.D., MPH, MBA, is chairman of the board at Seaside Ohana Investments, Inc., a private family office and new legacy company formed after the 2016 sale of the family’s long-held hotel operating company Outrigger Enterprises Group. Prior to joining... Read More →

Richard Kelley

Born in Waikīkī in 1933, the eldest child of Hawai‘i’s pioneering hoteliers Roy and Estelle Kelley, Dr. Richard Kelley worked at his parents’ first hotel. Following his first career as a pathologist at Queen’s Hospital and professor at the University of Hawai‘i School... Read More →

Kitty Yannone

Kitty Yannone is a well-known and respected entrepreneur and community leader with over 30 years of experience in public relations, issues management, and crisis communications. She was a founding board member and the first executive director of Hawaiʻi’s Ronald McDonald House... Read More →

Monday November 1, 2021 12:00pm - 1:00pm HST
Authors & Performances

Authors

10:00am HST

Storyteller Adam Booth - Journeying Appalachia's Roads

In partnership with Mānoa Outreach College & SCEP

Speakers

Adam Booth

Adam Booth's original stories blend traditional mountain folklore, music, and an awareness of contemporary Appalachia. A nationally touring artist, his professional telling appearances include premiere storytelling events across the United States, such as the Timpanogos Storytelling... Read More →

Tuesday November 2, 2021 10:00am - 11:00am HST
Storyteller

International Storyteller

5:00pm HST

Author - Memoir: Road to Freedom, A Journey from Occupied Tibet with Foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Guided by H.H. the Dalai Lama, Marya Schwabe and her husband Michael, and a monk from Nechung Monastery in India, journeyed to Tibet in search of Nechung Rinpoche’s reincarnation. Marya tells story of their search, discovery, and escape with their teacher’s reincarnation.

Moderator

Tom Peek

Volcano writer Tom Peek is author of the award-winning novel Daughters of Fire. An acclaimed writing teacher, his workshops have inspired hundreds of islanders to write their own novels, memoirs, poems, and family histories. A Hawaiʻi Island resident for three decades, he lives near... Read More →

Speakers

Marya Waifoon Schwabe

Marya Schwabe is the Administrative Director at Wood Valley Temple (Nechung Dorje Drayang Ling) on Hawai’i Island. Marya and her husband Michael reside at the temple, which was established in 1974 by Nechung Rinpoche, an eminent Tibetan lama. They studied, lived, and worked with... Read More →

Tuesday November 2, 2021 5:00pm - 6:00pm HST
Authors & Performances

Authors

10:00am HST

Storyteller Giovanna Conforto - Tasty Italian Tales

In partnership with Mānoa Outreach College & SCEP

Speakers

Giovanna Conforto

Giovanna Conforto is an Italian storyteller and published author. She is the creative director of the Italian Storytelling Center and teaches at the School of Storytelling, Emerson College (UK). She has participated in events and festivals all over Europe, North America and Asia... Read More →

Wednesday November 3, 2021 10:00am - 11:00am HST
Storyteller

International Storyteller

2:00pm HST

*Special Presentation - Music - Makana in Concert at Kawaiaha‘o Church

A concert by one of the greatest slack-key guitarists in a unique setting

Artists

Ken Makuakane

Producer

Makana

Wednesday November 3, 2021 2:00pm - 3:00pm HST
Special Presentations

Music, Music

5:00pm HST

Cook Real Hawaii

Hilo-born Chef Sheldon Simeon won Fan Favorite twice in Bravo’s hit show, Top Chef. Sheldon went on to launch two restaurants featuring local fare, and was a James Beard Award semi-finalist in 2019 for “Best New Restaurant.” This past spring he published his best-selling cookbook, Cook Real Hawai‘i.

Moderator

Amanda Corby

Amanda Corby Noguchi is the co-founder of communications firm Under My Umbrella and event company Pili Group, along with her husband Chef Mark Noguchi. Dedicated to preserving and uplifting culture and communities in Hawaiʻi, they also founded Chef Hui, a nonprofit that connects... Read More →

Speakers

Chef Sheldon Simeon

Sheldon was born in Hilo, on the Big Island of Hawaii, and attended Maui Culinary Academy. He worked in various restaurants on Maui before competing in seasons 10 and 14 of Bravo’s hit cooking show, “Top Chef,” winning Fan Favorite both times. In 2016, Sheldon opened his first... Read More →

Wednesday November 3, 2021 5:00pm - 6:00pm HST
Authors & Performances

Authors

10:00am HST

Storyteller Joe Miller - Tales for a Planetary Autumn

In partnership with Mānoa Outreach College & SCEP

Speakers

Joe Miller

Joe Miller is a native of Palama. He has been a high school teacher for 40 years in private Catholic schools on ‘Oahu. He has three children, a cat and a dog and a beautiful wife who still teaches 7th and 9th graders in Honolulu. He loves singing, storytelling and messing around... Read More →

Thursday November 4, 2021 10:00am - 11:00am HST
Storyteller

International Storyteller

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