April Events: National Poetry Month

April marks National Poetry Month in America, the art of poetry of which was of vital importance to the Americans incarcerated at Honouliuli. The traditional Japanese tanka poem was a common form Honouliuli prisoners, such as Otokichi Muin Ozaki and Yasutaro Keiho Soga, would use to express the hardships in their daily lives and the struggle of missing their loved ones.

The National Park Service is proud to announce their partnership with the Hawai‘i Council for the Humanities for this month of reflection and activities to encourage the community to engage in their own poem-writing through a poetry workshop that will be offered.

Please Note:

Nearly all of our Speaker Series events will be virtual.

Event details will be posted closer to the month in which they take place. Please check back for updates to the calendar and event pages.

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Speaker: Honouliuli Superintendent Christine Ogura

National Park Service

Date and Location: April 23, 2025, 6:00-7:00 PM (HST). Please register for the event using the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84696226428

Discussion Summary: Christine will be sharing updates on current work at the park as well as future plans.

Biography: Born and raised on Oʻahu in Moiliili, Christine worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 14 years before joining the NPS in 2024. She also worked for the late U.S. Congresswoman Patsy T. Mink and for non-profits acquiring lands for the NPS and supported international conservation efforts in more than 10 countries. She was the planner for the Hawaiʻi Wildlife Action Plan and managed the Hawaiʻi Division of Forestry and Wildlife’s Watershed Partnerships program, which involved over 60 public-private landowners/partners.

In her role, working with others, Christine shepherds a site dedicated to telling the history of incarceration, martial law, and the experience of prisoners of war in Hawaiʻi during World War II. It is a place to reflect on wartime experiences.

 

Honouliuli Pop-Up Exhibit: University of Hawai‘i West O‘ahu Library

University of Hawai‘i West O‘ahu Library

Date: All of April, 2025, University of Hawai‘i West O‘ahu Library, 91-1001 Farrington Hwy, Kapolei, HI 96707, open during library hours.

About the Event: For the entire month of April, the University of Hawai‘i West O‘ahu Library will be the home of Honouliuli National Historic Site's traveling exhibit. Visit the library to read up on the history of Honouliuli and what work has been done on the site since its discovery. For a comprehensive list of literature related to Honouliuli and Japanese American incarceration, please check out our Recommended Reading List.

 

Onizuka Day of Exploration (Table Event)

University of Hawai‘i West O‘ahu

Date and Location: April 5, 2025, University of Hawai‘i West O‘ahu, 91-1001 Farrington Hwy Kapolei, HI 96707, Booth C115 9:00AM-3:00PM

About the Event: The University of Hawai‘i West O‘ahu and Aloha Council (Boy Scouts of America) host Onizuka Day of Exploration, a free event that is open to the public. At the 2025 Onizuka Day of Exploration, you'll find over 100 hands-on activities, workshops, and classes for all ages to enjoy. With a special focus on Hawaiian culture, sustainability, and career development, there's something for everyone to learn and discover.

Honouliuli National Historic Site will also have a table at this event to share the story about Honouliuli Internment Camp with people of all ages. Activities for children will also be provided.

 

Hawai‘i History Day (Table Event)

Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities

Date and Location: April 5, 2025, Windward Community College, 45-720 Keaahala Rd, Kaneohe, HI 96744, 10:30AM-12:30PM

About the Event: Join the National Park Service as they share the history and story of Honouliuli internment camp and its relevance to future generations at the State-wide Hawai‘i History Day. All ages are welcome to join in the interactive activities inspired by the camps.

 

Poetry Reading and Writing Workshop

Date and Location: April 26, 2025, Hawaii's Plantation Village, 94-695 Waipahu St, Waipahu, HI 96797, 2:00-3:30PM (HST)

About the Event: Join us for a poetry reading and writing workshop to learn more about the poems created by the people incarcerated at Honouliuli Internment Camp. This workshop will be led by Hawai'i State Poet Laureate Brandy Nalani McDougall, Ann Inoshita, and Lisa Linn Kanae. There will be poetry reading and then participants will be led through creating their own poems. This workshop is hosted by our 10th anniversary partner, Hawaii's Plantation Village, where you can also learn about Hawaii's immigrant communities, many of whom were impacted by WWII and resulted in their incarceration at Honouliuli. All ages are welcomed for this poetry workshop. Due to the size of the room, only a limited number of people can be accommodated, and it will be first come first serve for signing up. Please email us to sign up.

Born and raised on Maui, Brandy Nālani McDougall earned a BA from Whittier College and an MFA from the University of Oregon and is a PhD candidate at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. She also studied at the University of Auckland. McDougall is the author of the poetry collection The Salt-Wind / Ka Makani Pa‘akai (2008) and the scholarly monograph Finding Meaning: Kaona and Contemporary Hawaiian Literature (2016). Her writing appears in Effigies: An Anthology of New Indigenous Writing (2009), edited by Allison Adelle Hedge Coke. In a review of McDougall’s work, Craig Santos Perez says, “She wrestles with historical and contemporary colonialism in her homeland through the themes of language, education, and exoticism. … McDougall seamlessly weaves together Hawaiian language and English to create a complex, bilingual texture.”

Ann Inoshita was born and raised on Oʻahu. She is author of a book of poems, Mānoa Stream (Kahuaomānoa Press), and co-author of No Choice but to Follow and What We Must Remember, linked poems (renshi) with poets Juliet S. Kono, Christy Passion, and Jean Yamasaki Toyama (Bamboo Ridge Press). What We Must Remember received the Hawaiʻi Book Publishers Association’s Ka Palapala Poʻokela Honorable Mention for Excellence in Literature. She is the recipient of the Hawaiʻi Literary Arts Council’s 2021 Elliot Cades Award for Literature for an established writer.

Lisa Linn Kanae is a Kanaka Maoli of mixed ancestry from Honolulu. She is the author of the short story collection Islands Linked by Ocean (Bamboo Ridge) and Sista Tongue (Tinfish), a memoir/essay that weaves the social history of Hawai‘i Creole English with the personal. Her prose and poetry have appeared in publications such as ‘Ōiwi A Native Hawaiian Journal, Tinfish, and Ho‘olana Journal as well as several issues of Bamboo Ridge: Journal of Hawai‘i Literature and Arts. A Cades Award for Hawai‘i Literature recipient, Kanae teaches composition and literature at Kapi‘olani Community College.