HPA Hosts Big Island Reading Festival

The Big Island Celebrate Reading Festival will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m at Hawai’i Preparatory Academy’s Upper Campus on Saturday, April 21. The event is free and open to the public.

Guest authors include:

• Gail Tsukiyama of San Francisco, who will read from her seventh book (set in China like her first historical novel, Women of the Silk), and converse about The Street of A Thousand Blossoms, set in Japan.
• Kate Elliott, who will talk about her science fiction/fantasy Spirit Walker trilogy (Cold Magic).
• Jonathan Kamakawiwo’ole Osorio, who will perform and talk about the art of telling stories and composing lyrics drawn from Hawaiian history.
• Cathy Song, who will discuss her poetry (School Figures).
• Mark Panek, who will speak about his powerful non-fiction work, Big Happiness, the story of how Percy Kipapa’s success as a sumotori in Tokyo ended tragically when he came home to Hawai’i and the ice epidemic.
• Sue Cowing, who will lead a conversation on her internationally published middle-grade novel (You Will Call Me Drog).
• Matthew Kaopio, who will Skype with readers about the sequel to Written in the Sky (Up Among the Stars).

Participants may bring a brown bag lunch, or order a $5 lunch from Lois Inman (linman@hpa.edu, phone 881-4024). To register, please contact Cathy Ikeda (caikeda@ksbe.edu), phone 937-8363).

For more information, contact Lorna Hershinow (hershinow@gmail.com, phone 808-239-9726).