Kirby's Wright's Weblog

Kirby Wright heading to the Big Island

Kirby will appear at Borders Hilo at noon on April 19th to sign copies of his companion novels MOLOKA'I NUI AHINA and PUNAHOU BLUES. Borders is located in the Waiakea Shopping Center. The address is 301 Maka'ala Street, Hilo, HI 96720.

MOLOKA'I NUI AHINA is based on the life and times of his grandmother, who was the first woman paniolo (cowboy) on the island of Moloka'i. This novel was praised by the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Maui Weekly, Honolulu Weekly, and the San Francisco Chronicle.

ps. Kirby will also be lecturing at the Kona Library on April 15th @ 11 a.m.

MOLOKAI VACATION RENTAL Beach House & Cottage

If anyone's looking for a great escape from the Rat Race, check out the setting for my novel MOLOKA'I NUI AHINA: http://www.molokaiparadise.com

There's a Beach House just like in the book and a sweet cottage overlooking Pailolo Channel. The water is pristine and the view of the outer islands is breathtaking. Have to admit it, Maui is the best island to look at from a distance.

This is Old Hawaii, not a place overrun with hoards of tourists.

The whales are migrating right now and you can see them breach right off the coast; also, the endangered monk seals can be seen basking on the coast. If you're into surfing, write me and I'll let you know about a secret spot where there are some great lefts--don't want to go right because of a lava pinnacle!

MOLOKA'I NUI AHINA novel Hot off the Press!

Howzit! Chy check out my new book and what the critics are saying with this review from the venerable Book Editor over on Maui:

http://www.mauiweekly.com/the_bookshelf/story4914.aspx

This book actually started out in third person, in a writing class I was taking from Harry Petrakis @ SFSU. This was my first prose writing class in graduate school and boy did I struggle just trying to craft the opening paragraph. Over time I realized my strength was first person so I changed my first story in that class around about a year later. It was difficult for me to make the adjustment from poetry to prose, but I'm glad I did. Professor Petrakis was instrumental in teaching me how to edit...edit...edit. He told me former students called him THE BUTCHER because they got so many red marks on their workshoped stories from him. Yes, I got the red treatment too! :-)

PUNAHOU BOOK FAIR

Please come visit us at the PUNAHOU BLUES booth during the Punahou Book Fair on Thursday, November 3rd. Think of this as early Xmas Shopping without the crowds! Signed copies will be available and you'll get a chance to meet other alum writers from Punahou. I've heard a rumor that MICHELLE WIE may make an appearance and the famed 60s surfer FRED VAN DYKE is trying to get a booth right now. BLUES is almost all sold out so Hele on Down to Dole Cafeteria on the Punahou Campus for a fun evening of book shopping and mingling with fellow kama'aina readers! The time is 5 pm to 9 pm. If you can't make it, the last remaining copies of PUNAHOU BLUES can be found at Borders Ward Centre and Borders Waikele in Waipahu. A hui hou!

Review of PUNAHOU BLUES

The writing here, by short-story whiz Wright, is deceptively simple, but it takes you right back into the turbulent social and political world of high-school Hawaii in the '60s and '70s. Wright has crafted a flashback of the highest order.

--Burl Burlingame
HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN