Poets House Presents: Lois-Ann Yamanaka

Poet and novelist Lois-Ann Yamanaka reads from Saturday Night at the Pahala Theatre (Bamboo Ridge Press), from Honolulu, HI.

Lois-Ann Yamanaka lives in a concrete jungle called Honolulu and cannot wait to move home to the Big Island of Hawai‘i. Lois-Ann keeps sane by creating even though writing is WORK that requires intense intellectual, physical, emotional, and spiritual focus. So, this is my mantra: I love having had written, but I kind of dislike writing. Another writer said that. Believe me, writing is very hard work. Her work is written in Hawaiian Pidgin, and confronts themes of Asian American families and the culture of Hawaiʻi. She appreciates Poets House for its efforts in keeping artists visible and heard during a time that we need it most.

Poets House Presents is a series of 10 minute readings that are posted on IGTV, YouTube, and our Archive on Fridays at noon.