Celebrating National Poetry Month

Honolulu CC faculty participate in numerous events around town

Honolulu Community College
Contact:
Billie K T Lueder, (808) 845-9187
Director of Communications & External Affairs, Chancellor's Office
Posted: Mar 20, 2015

Eric Shaffer
Eric Shaffer
Chris McKinney
Chris McKinney

Eric Paul Shaffer, Assistant Professor in Language Arts, will be teaching a poetry workshop at the upcoming Ko‘olau Writers Workshop on Saturday, March 21, on the Hawai‘i Loa campus of Hawai‘i Pacific University at 10:00 am. Lois-Ann Yamanaka will be delivering the keynote address, and Honolulu CC Associate Professor in Language Arts and local author, Chris McKinney will lead a Fiction Workshop starting at 2:00 pm.  More information is available at www.koolauwritersworkshop.com.

In 1996, the Academy of American Poets inaugurated April National Poetry Month.  It is is the largest literary celebration in the world with schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers, and poets celebrating poetry’s vital place in culture.

Shaffer is excited to share his passion for poetry with the community, and will be participating in the following events around town in celebration of National Poetry Month. 

On Saturday, March 28, in the Reading Room at the Hawai‘i State Public Library, at 2:00 pm he will present “Small Wonders,” where he will read short poems by classic and contemporary writers. 

On Thursday, April 23, in the Honolulu Community College Library, at 1:00 pm, Shaffer will present “Reading Poetry.”  He will read poems by classic and contemporary poets as well as share little insights concerning the context of strategies of poetry for readers new and experienced. 

In June, he will be participating in the twenty-third annual Jackson Hole Writers Conference in Jackson, Wyoming, along with his national peers in the Poetry Track of the conference.

“It is an honor to be invited to attend this well-respected conference. I will be joining many writers I’ve always admired, including Tobias Wolff, Jeff Greenwald, Jewell Parker Rhodes, and Tim Sandlin,” shares Shaffer. 

 

Eric Paul Shaffer is author of five books of poetry, including Lāhaina Noon; Living at the Monastery, Working in the Kitchen, and Portable Planet. Shaffer has received a number of local literary awards, including the 2002 Elliot Cades Award, a 2006 Ka Palapala Po’okela Book Award, and the 2009 James M. Vaughan Award for Poetry.

Chris McKinney is the author of five novels, The Tattoo, The Queen of Tears, Bolohead Row, Mililani Mauka, and Boi No Good, and has written a feature film screenplay, Paradise Broken (nominated for best film at the Los Angeles Pacific Film Festival. His latest book, The Red Headed Hawaiian, a memoir co-written with Dr. Rudolph Puana, is about a red-headed Hawaiian kid from Kahalu‘u who makes good.