Page 7 - MidWeek - May 19, 2021

MAY 19, 2021 MIDWEEK 7
Rotten
The Write Stuff
BY CHRIS MCKINNEY
PAPAYAS
When I started writ- ing over 20 years ago, there were obviously more bookstores and a more robust print jour- nalism presence. Shoot, we even had a Hawai‘i best- sellers list. Granted, most of the bookstores were named Barnes & Noble, Walden- books or Borders, but these were places where authors could hold events and do book signings. If a writer was fortunate, he or she could get some press from both news- papers and Honolulu Weekly.
Enter The Hawai‘i Review of Books, or THROB, which went live May 1. It’s a digital literary magazine that is “in- tended to be by, for and about those who read, write and en- gage with the islands.” Edi- tor Don Wallace, who brings years of writing and editing experience to the virtual ta- ble, says, “We will entertain any submitted work on any subject from long-form non- fiction to tiny haiku book re- views.”
winning-novelist Charles Johnson (conducted by Thuy Da Lam), an excerpt of Paul Theroux’s latest novel, Under the Wave at Waimea (see pho- to at top right), and a review of the novel.
the way, super congrats on your daughter, Tae, winning the 2021 Newbery for When You Trap a Tiger. What an amazing accomplishment!) Puleloha? Barclay? Tonou- chi? Kwon? Some of my past creative writing students — Lefkoe? Tokuno-Lynk? I also hope this gets out to the University of Hawai‘i English department creative writing faculty who I know. Perhaps you can point some promising students, both past and present, in THROB’s di- rection.
— its own thing. It’s a place where writer and Big Island professor Mark Panek can recall the horrifying moment his son was diagnosed with cancer. It’s a place where novelist Scott Kikkawa can talk about the sex industry in Hawai‘i and its representa- tion in literature. It’s a place where James Charisma can recount being in Vegas the day Sin City locked down. It’s a place where columnist Stephanie Han can “answer any questions you have that cover the areas of craft, pro- cess, and technique and/or the teaching of writing and literature.”
And it’s a place where
Today, there’s one tradi- tional newspaper and one remaining Barnes & Noble, while Borders, Waldenbooks and Honolulu Weekly no lon- ger exist.
The inaugural issue fea- tures Kiana Davenport (Shark Dialogues), who recalls her dark, lonely and chaotic year spent in New York City during the pandemic that took the lives of over 50,000 New Yorkers. It includes a short story by Bryan Ka- maoli Kuwada, an interview of National Book Award
But this isn’t about me. It’s about the opportunity to build a stronger, collective literary presence in Hawai‘i. To give a possible platform to young- er writers who are struggling to get their voices out there. To invite more seasoned writ- ers to help Wallace keep this proud monster roaring. Lo- is-Ann, where you at sistah? It’s been years. Nora? (By
THROB isn’t competing with Honolulu Star-Adver- tiser or any other publica- tion. It’s just a different thing
Like Hawai‘i itself, THROB represents a crazy mix of voices. Also, like Mid- Week, it’s free. What’s better than free? Check out THROB at hawaiireviewofbooks.com.
Full disclosure: I contrib- uted as well. I wrote a short review of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun. THROB also included an announce- ment of my new novel, which comes out in July.
Wallace can talk about Ther- oux’s new book, and the ba- nana bread at Diamond Head Market & Grill.
chrismckinney808@gmail.com
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