books Archives

Moloka'i Nui Ahina Book Signing

Hey GuyZ. Come see me at the following locations in January. I'll be signing my new novel and, if you mention you heard about the appearance on HawaiiStories, I'll give you a free copy of BEFORE THE CITY with your purchase.

Jan. 12: Borders Waipahu @ 2 pm, Borders Kaneohe @ 5 pm
Jan. 13th: Borders Ala Moana @ Noon

Kirby Wright's MOLOKA'I NUI AHINA novel released

Aloha Guyz,

My companion novel to PUNAHOU BLUES has just been released. You can find it @ Native Books, Borders Ala Moana, Borders Waipahu in the Waikele Mall, and BookEnds over in Kailua. This is a hard cover cloth in cobalt blue with a Van Gogh-like book jacket. It just received this review from Maui:
http://www.mauiweekly.com/the_bookshelf/story4914.aspx

Book Launch Pahty

Howzit, I dunno if u guyz kin make it to Cali, but heahs da scoops:

Book Launch Party for MOLOKA'I NUI AHINA. Bamboo Source Tropical Decor will host the launch of Kirby Wright's new novel set on a remote Hawaiian island. Vacation getaways to Moloka'i, merchandise raffles, hula dancers, Tiki carvers, Hawaiian-style plate lunch, cake, plumeria leis, spicy macadamias, and more! Saturday and Sunday, June 16-17, from noon to 4 p.m. 2028 S. Coast Highway, Oceanside, 92054. FREE. Phone 800-215-1833.

Honorable Mention for PUNAHOU BLUES @ Hawaii Book Awards

Ho! Was good kine fun at Hawai'i Book Awards last Friday NightS, wit two Hawaiian bands and SAM CHOY kaukau and planny leis li'dat. Smell all like pikake and carnations inside. You know wot? Git TOM MOFFAT, dat KKUA deejay buggah from da 60s and 70s goin' up fo one award and had Bruddah Nolan C. too snaggin da hardware. Me? I git Honorable Mentions for PUNAHOU BLUES. Chy buy copy quick, going go fast kine once i let it outta da bag i go school wit whodaguy BARACK OBAMA, you know, da next President.

No ack! :-)

Hawai'i Book Awards

Hi All,

The 2006 Ka Palapala Po'okela Awards take place tomorrow night @ 6 p.m. @ Mission Memorial Auditorium downtown.

I'm happy to tell you that PUNAHOU BLUES has been nominated for an award!

Guest speaker for the event will be KITV-4 News reporter Denby Fawcett.

Aloha kakou,

-Kirby Wright

Lent Books

I have decided to give up three things for Lent: chocolate, soda, and internet gossip boards. Forsaking the third may actually prove more difficult than the first two. I spend way, way too much time reading about the love lives of complete strangers, and it occurred to me only this morning that I had yet to do anything special for Lent. So the solution is simple: quit visiting gossip sites and read a real book for a change. Read on...

Punahou Blues at Punahou Book Sale

UPDATED! 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 understand EDGY LEE will have a booth and also PAM CHUN. I've heard a rumor 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 Case Middle School in Kuaihelani, which is Building 5 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.

Hawaiian Novel!

PUNAHOU BLUES is out! This is my first book of prose and I'm hoping it will be in local bookstores by the end of June or the beginning of July. If you write me I'll sell you an advance copy so you'll be the first on your block to have PUNAHOU BLUES. The ISBN is 0974106712. I was fortunate enough to have Maxine Hong Kingston as my instructor at UH-Manoa and later Frances Mayes (UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN) at SFSU. I also got encouragement from Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Hunter S. Thompson

My homage to the work, life and death of writer Hunter S. Thompson, a frequent visitor to Hawaii.

A Planetary Makeover

Fairly recently, one of Honolulu's smaller publications, The Downtown Planet, got a makeover courtesy of Pacific Basin Communications, the media moguls responsible for such notable magazines such as Honolulu Magazine, Hawaii Business and Hawaii Home.

Thanks to the award-winning creative team, the once shoddy-looking publication (which we actually used for packing material when shipping products at work) now looks fabulous: where there was once a chaotic mix of typefaces and punctuation, there's now a uniform flow, providing an infotaining weekly that's easy on the eyes with information that's easy to consume (with no additional carbs, for you Atkin's dieters).

The questions is: how do you think the publication will do, now that it's more evenly matched with the Honolulu Weekly, the also weekly paper that has gained street-cred for being the source for the hip, jet-set and cool? Or is it even fair to compare it to the Honolulu Weekly?

Poetry Reading vs. NFL Football

Aloha and Hau'oli Makahiki Hou! I'll be reading at Barnes & Noble at Kahala Mall on Saturday, Jan. 10th at 1 pm. I'll bring copies of BEFORE THE CITY to sign and I'll also be reading poems from the collection as well as excerpts from my novel manuscript. The novel is coming of age set on Moloka'i and chapters have already appeared in Hawai'i Review and Chaminade Literary Review.

Word Nerds

It is that time again. NaNoWriMo time. So, who's doing it this year?

Hawaii's Independent Book Stores

The Hawaii Public Library system suits most of my reading needs. Occasionally there is a title I can't find. I could ask them get it from another library in the US, but why not turn this into an opportunity to support our local independent book sellers?

So other than the obvious - Jelly's, Rainbow, Cheapos & Geckos - what's your favorite local independent bookstore? Or have they been closed by the likes of B&N and Borders?

Yeah, But Can They Write?

I read lots of comics, more so than I should, and after reading about how local comic book artists are finding the business difficult, my feeling on the matter is that while some of the local artists can draw (and I'm using the phrase loosely here), many of them simply can't write or tell a good story on par with what's being produced by the mainland artists/writers. In my opinion, that's why the locals are failing. That's real life reality.

Oh, and I also hate it when I see stuff like this.

And here's a local boy that succeeded.

byrd of paradise

Newsarama.com has a feature article about Hawaiian Dick: Byrd of Paradise, a new comic book series set for a December debut. It's a film noir inspired private detective series set in 1950s-era Honolulu.

"It's set in a stylized reality, if that reality also includes zombies and the ghosts of ancient Hawaiian warriors," said [creator B. Clay] Moore. "What we're doing here is taking a film noir approach to 1950s Hawaii, and then tying Hawaiian folklore and mythology into each story."

There are comments below the article, including a few responses by the comic's writer in response to suggestions that the book will just be a cheap tiki/hula girl/grass shack bastardization of Hawaiian culture. Personally, I think the art samples look great and the premise is intriguing. I love gritty crime stories, and I always thought that Honolulu would make for a great setting for a series of private detective novels.

She Can Bring Home the Lup Cheong

The inaugural issue of Hawai`i Woman magazine is out, and probably on newsstands now (although I haven't seen it anywhere).

Cartoons and Life

The August 3-9, 2002 issue of TV Guide features the "50 greatest cartoon characters of all time" in 4 different covers.

Hawaii Stories Book Club, or Eh, What You Reading?

Basically, this is the thread to discuss what's on everyone's reading list this summer. And we're not talking Big Literary Books or anything like that - just, well, whatever it is you're reading that you can recommend - or not, depending on how you feel.

Hawaii-based comic books?

I guess this ostensibly belongs in books. =)

I've recently plunged head-first (or maybe wallet-first) back into the world of comic books, and I was wondering if anyone knows of any Hawaii-based comic books out there? I'm mostly interested in comics that are either based in Hawaii or have Hawaiian characters. Anyone know of anything like this?

Got Comics?

Saturday was Free Comic Book Day and I knew I should have gotten up earlier so that I could get my grubby hands on a copy of Top Cow’s Tomb Raider or DC’s Justice League, but no…I had to stay up late the night before to putzs around on the web.

We didn't get out to Collectors Maniac, over in Kaimuki on Waialae Ave., till about noon, which was really too late to get free anything, at least not anything good. The only comic they had left was Marvel’s Ultimate Spiderman, which I already have. But Dwayne, part owner of the place, told me I should take it anyway.

Dwayne is cool like that. I'll tell you more about him, his place, and his love for anything Kikaida in another entry.

You would think that...

Free comics!

May 4th is Free Comic Book Day. This is the day after Spider-man opens in movie theaters, and the public's interest in comic books will be high. It's meant to encourage the public to visit their local comic book store and discover (or re-discover) this American art form.

I knew Nora Okja Keller when...

Re-reading the entries about local writers reminded me of a time when I took an English class (Short Story & Novel) at UHM taught by Nora Okja Keller. She had to be one of the best English instructors I had and will have. In that class was my first experience with recognizing pidgin' English as a language. We actually read a couple of pieces from the "Best of Bamboo Ridge."

Mid Week

As I pull my copy of Mid Week from the mailbox and walk towards the house, I always check to see who is on the cover. I don't think I have ever known anyone that has had their photo on the cover, but I figure that eventually someone I know will do something noteworthy and get their photo there. Once I get into the house, the first thing I do is to pull the advertisements out and set them on the side. The Long's ads always get their own special pile to ensure that I won't miss them.