Hilo Rains (Bamboo Ridge,)

Poetry. Asian American Studies. In her first collection of poetry, Juliet S. Kono shares her family's immigrant past and captures in poetic memory a time and place. Rich in detail, the work spans two generations and examines the daily events of life on the sugar plantation and growing up Japanese American in Hawai'i on the Big Island. Kono's sharp observational skills and lyrical voice paint a picture that resonates with both the tenderness and strength of clear-eyed memory. The collection includes one short story and archival family photographs.

ANSHU is Juliet S. Kono's first novel. Her previous publications include two books of poetry, HILO RAINS and TSUNAMI YEARS; a collaborative work of linked poems with three other poets, NO CHOICE BUT TO FOLLOW; a short story collection, HONOLULU PARK AND THE PEPSODENT SMILE; and a children's book, The Bravest 'Opihi. The recipient of several awards, including the US/Japan Friendship Commission Creative Artist Exchange Fellowship, she has been anthologized widely, most recently in Imagine What It's Like: A Literature and Medicine Anthology. In 2006, she won the Hawai'i Award for Literature. Born and raised in Hilo, Hawai'i, she now lives in Honolulu with her husband and teaches composition and creative writing at Leeward Community College.