Juliet Kono (born 1943) is a Hawaiʻian poet and novelist.
Juliet Sanae Kono Lee | |
|---|---|
 Juliet Kono - reading at the Asian American Literature Festival (2017) | |
| Born | Juliet Sanae Asayama 1943 (age 80–81) |
| Other names | Juliet Lee |
| Occupation(s) | poet, author, and instructor |
Early life and education edit
Kono was born in 1943 in Hilo, Hawaiʻi to Yoshinori and Atsuko Asayama;[1]: viii her grandparents were immigrants from Japan. One of her earliest memories is from the April 1 tsunami resulting from the 1946 Aleutian Islands earthquake; her family lost their home, which was near the water's edge where Liliʻuokalani Gardens is today, and were forced to live near her grandparents, who operated a small sugar cane plantation in Kaiwiki.[2]: 2–4 She was raised as a Shin Buddhist, and her mother and grandmother were active members of Honpa Hongwanji Hilo Betsuin.[3]
After graduating from Hilo High School, she moved to Honolulu,[2]: 5 where she attended the University of Hawaii, but dropped out and started a family, then worked as a police radio dispatcher before she received her Bachelor (1988) and Master of Arts (1990) degrees from University of Hawaii at Manoa; as an adult student, she earned her BA and graduated with her son.[2]: 5–6 Kono published her first book of poems, Hilo Rains, in 1988, as an undergraduate at Manoa.[4]
Kono is retired and worked as an English instructor at Leeward Community College.[5] She is married to David Lee,[1]: viii who was a fellow dispatcher.[2]: 5
Career edit
She took up writing while working at a former job as a police dispatcher, publishing as Juliet S. Kono.[2] Kono has also taught at guest workshops for universities and colleges including Wellesley College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[4]
She is considered a member of the Bamboo Ridge group of writers[4] and also is an ordained Buddhist minister.[2]: 5 [3]
Awards edit
Kono received a Creative Artist Exchange Fellowship from the Japan-United States Friendship Commission in 1998[4] and the Hawaii Award for Literature in 2005.[6] Her novel Anshu: Dark Sorrow received the 2011 Ka Palapala Po'okela Book Award for Literature.[7]
Bibliography edit
- — (1988). Hilo Rains (PDF). Honolulu: Bamboo Ridge Press. ISBN 978-0-910043-15-1. LCCN 88-24236. (published as a special double issue of Bamboo Ridge: The Hawaii Writer's Quarterly, issues 37 and 38, Winter & Spring 1988)
- Kono, Juliet S.; Song, Cathy, eds. (1991). Sister Stew: Poetry and Fiction by Women. Bamboo Ridge Press. ISBN 0-910043-22-1.
- — (1995). Tsunami Years (PDF). Bamboo Ridge Press. ISBN 0-910043-35-3. (published as a special double issue of Bamboo Ridge, issues 65 and 66)
- — (2004). Hoʻolulu Park and the Pepsodent Smile, and Other Stories. Bamboo Ridge Press. ISBN 0-910043-70-1.
- — (2010). Anshu: Dark Sorrow. Bamboo Ridge Press. ISBN 978-0-910043-83-0.
- Yamasaki Toyama, Jean; Kono, Juliet S.; Inoshita, Ann; Passion, Christy (2011). No Choice but to Follow. Bamboo Ridge Press. ISBN 978-0-910043-82-3. (special issue of Bamboo Ridge #96)
- Passion, Christy; Inoshita, Ann; Kono, Juliet S.; Yamasaki Toyama, Jean (2017). What We Must Remember. Bamboo Ridge Press. ISBN 978-0-910043-97-7.
Works for young audiences edit
- — Fukawa, Emi (illus.) (1997). How the Ocean Fooled Us. ISBN 9780021825059.
- — Trang, Winson (illus.) (2000). A Day on the Cyclo. ISBN 9780021477043.
- — Chang, Heidi (illus.) (2000). The Pancake Place. ISBN 9780021476985.
- — Fujitake, Dennis (illus.) (2005). The Bravest ʻOpihi. ISBN 9781933067636.
References edit
- ^ a b — (1988). Hilo Rains (PDF). Honolulu: Bamboo Ridge Press. ISBN 978-0-910043-15-1. LCCN 88-24236.
- ^ a b c d e f Juliet Lee (July 12, 2011). "Interview with author Juliet S. Kono" (PDF). Long Story Short (Interview). Interviewed by Leslie Wilcox. PBS Hawaii. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
- ^ a b Juliet S. Kono (2010). "Interview with author Juliet S. Kono" (Interview). Interviewed by Staff report. Bamboo Ridge Press. Archived from the original on September 5, 2010. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
- ^ a b c d Huot, Nikolas (2002). Huang, Guiyou (ed.). Asian-American Poets: A Bio-bibliographical Critical Sourcebook. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 173–176. ISBN 0-313-31809-3. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
- ^ "Juliet Kono". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
- ^ "Recipients of Past Hawai'i Awards for Literature". Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. May 15, 2014. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
- ^ Staff report (May 15, 2011). "Juliet Kono's 'Anshu' captures Po'okela award for literature". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved 2014-02-02.
External links edit
- van Praag, Judith (December 20, 2006). "Juliet S. Kono explores the storms of life in poetry and prose". International Examiner.
- Huang, Guiyou, ed. (2009). "Kono, Juliet Sanae". The Greenwood encyclopedia of Asian American literature. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p. 533. ISBN 978-0-313-34157-1.
- The Reading Room with Juliet S. Kono on YouTube (2019)
- Poems
- — (1988). "Silverswords". (from Hilo Rains)
- — (1995). "Homeless". (from Tsunami Years)
- — (1995). "Love Letters". (from Tsunami Years)
- — (1995). "Shower". (from Tsunami Years)
- — (1995). "Womanhood". (from Tsunami Years)