Jasmin Iolani Hakes Jasmin ‘Iolani Hakes was born and raised in Hilo, Hawai’i. Her essays have appeared in the Sacramento Bee and the Los Angeles Times.
She was the recipient of the 2018 Hedgebrook residency. She won the Best Fiction Award from the Southern California Writers Conference.
Her debut novel, “Hula”, was inspired in part by her family oral history which spoke to having Hawaiian blood, albeit undocumented, along with her journey as a mom, raising a daughter that is native Hawaiian on paper and one that isn’t.
Hula, in some way or another, has been a part of her life ever since she was born. So the novel was in large part also an homage to the profound impact and role that Hula continues to have on her community, the culture she was raised in, and her family. …show more content…
She noticed that she would get treated differently by white hotel employees and store managers, and was deeply horrified and ashamed by it.
As she got older, this insecurity continued growing and did a lot of damage to her home. So she left the house. “Hula” is the result of living anywhere else for years and attempting to understand her cultural inheritance and the role she played in her own family, along with the connection to the land itself.
The novel was her way of channeling all of these complex questions of belonging and identity which had haunted her for her entire life, while also being a public declaration of her love and deep appreciation for her hometown and her
She was the recipient of the 2018 Hedgebrook residency. She won the Best Fiction Award from the Southern California Writers Conference.
Her debut novel, “Hula”, was inspired in part by her family oral history which spoke to having Hawaiian blood, albeit undocumented, along with her journey as a mom, raising a daughter that is native Hawaiian on paper and one that isn’t.
Hula, in some way or another, has been a part of her life ever since she was born. So the novel was in large part also an homage to the profound impact and role that Hula continues to have on her community, the culture she was raised in, and her family. …show more content…
She noticed that she would get treated differently by white hotel employees and store managers, and was deeply horrified and ashamed by it.
As she got older, this insecurity continued growing and did a lot of damage to her home. So she left the house. “Hula” is the result of living anywhere else for years and attempting to understand her cultural inheritance and the role she played in her own family, along with the connection to the land itself.
The novel was her way of channeling all of these complex questions of belonging and identity which had haunted her for her entire life, while also being a public declaration of her love and deep appreciation for her hometown and her