Lois-Ann Yamanaka

Lois-Ann Yamanaka was born on the island of Moloka’i in Hawaii. She has written three novels, Heads by Harry; Blu’s Hanging; and Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers, and a collection of poetry; Saturday Night at the Pahala Theatre.

Ms. Yamanaka, who writes in Hawaiian Creole English, a language stigmatized by its association with the immigrant class, has said, “I am devoted to telling stories the way I have experienced them—cultural identity and linguistic identity being skin and flesh to my body.”

Ms. Yamanaka received a Lannan Literary Award in 1998.