Woman. Warrior. Writer. 10-23
Megan Kamalei Kakimoto Vol. 4 No. 11 October 10, 2023
How did you come to author your life?
Becoming a writer was a dream I nurtured since childhood. As I grew older and my relationship with writing became more complicated, I worried I would never see this dream realized. After college, while working a time-consuming PR job, I wrote in whatever pockets of time I could carve out. Writing fiction was my lifeline, it grounded me to an otherwise precarious world. I gave myself permission to take writing seriously and make it a priority, which was the first and most pivotal step to authoring my life.
Megan Kamalei Kakimoto is a Japanese and Kanaka Maoli writer from Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. She is the author of the story collection Every Drop Is a Man’s Nightmare (Bloomsbury 2023), a USA Today bestseller. Her fiction has been featured in Granta, Conjunctions, Joyland, and elsewhere. She has been a finalist for the Keene Prize for Literature and has received support from the Rona Jaffe Foundation and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. She received her MFA from the Michener Center for Writers, where she was a Fiction Fellow. Currently a Fiction Editor for No Tokens journal, she lives in Honolulu. You can find her on Instagram @megankkakimoto or at www.megankakimoto.com.
NEWS AND OPPORTUNITIES
For inspiration—here are some recent highlights from writers who were guests at WCWW and shared their craft and knowledge, or who appeared as WWW.
Marivi Soliven Blanco (The Mango Bride) wrote a short story Pandemic Bread that is now a film at the 2024 San Diego Asian Film Festival that screens at Regal Edwards Mira Mesa cinema on Saturday, November 4 at 5:30.
Vanessa Hua's Forbidden City won recognition in the 42nd Annual Northern California Book Awards in the fiction category.
Jasmin Iolani Hakes, the creative force behind “Hula”, will be featured at the Liwanag Literary Festival.
Anne Liu Kellor celebrates the two-year anniversary of Heart Radical.
If you have 45 seconds of instrumental music that you would like played on The Conversation on Hawai’i Public Radio—send me your Spotify link!
Former WWW featured authors, guest authors to class, workshop alum, and anyone who has appeared on my syllabus, please submit info so I can support your work.
HPR
A chat with Megan Kamalei Kakimoto.
A Great Divide by Jean Shim - This was really an excellent movie. Shim made this film as a response to Asian Hate. She discusses her journey as a woman filmmaker.
Korean Shamanism—I talked to Dohee Lee of PuriArts and Jennifer Kim aka Mudang Jenn about the Korean indigenous belief system. There are over 18000 gods. In short, if you don’t like one, I’m sure you can find one that suits you.
Tree Fellows—listen to the end—The Banyan Tree in Maui.
George Kahumoku Jr. is a West Maui cultural icon. Honestly, going over to his house during orientation was probably one of the best experiences I had when I was teaching in Maui. He’s a generous man.
MERCH
Get your gear. Support the Woman. Warrior. Writer. Scholarship Fund.
WRITING PROCESS
Do you know your Master Narratives? Check out this video and figure yours out.
PHOTOGRAPHY OF POSTWAR KOREA
A direct ask: I’m interested in connecting with someone at LACMA regarding my mother Marie Ann Yoo’s postwar Korea photographs. Please contact me if you have insight, information, or leads. Much thanks.
Thanks for reading and please share.
Aloha,
Stephanie