Books

Item Description

New copy of Kai Gaspar's book Ulu, with 5 accompanying stickers. Kai will personalize the winning bidder's book and mail directly to winner.

NOTE: kahako are missing in below text due to webpage limitations. 

Kai Gaspar is a kanaka 'oiwi poet and teacher from Honaunau. Kai is the author of the acclaimed poetic memoir ‘Ulu’, published by Ho'olana Publishing in 2023. Honolulu Magazine named Ulu as one of "6 Must-Read Books to Celebrate La Ku'oko'a" this year, saying, "The debut poetic memoir by Kanaka 'oiwi mahu poet Kai Gaspar is making waves across the Pacific. The book captures Gaspar’s hometown of Honaunau, Hawai‘i, in the 1970s and ’80s, weaving together themes of family, queer exploration, the Indigenous supernatural and a powerful love of land and culture. Said to channel the incredible lyricism of famed writers Haunani-Kay Trask, Dan Taulapapa McMullin and R. Zamora Linmark, Ulu has received widespread praise from many readers, including Hawai‘i State Poet Laureate Brandy Nalani McDougall."  

Honolulu Magazine also named 'Ulu' as one of "5 Books Local Authors Couldn’t Get Enough of in 2023" with Hawai‘i State Poet Laureate Brandy Nalani McDougall writing, “What Gaspar offers here is a profound story of the deep and possessive mana of Honaunau, of a young mahu growing and earning the knowledge of healing and ‘a'ina, and how we can all become pu‘uhonua—beautiful, compassionate and strong, not only in spite of whatever we survive, but also because of it."

His works have previously been published in Mauri Ola Contemporary Polynesian Poems in English / Whetu Moana II, Tinfish, Yellow Medicine Review, Hawai‘i Review and elsewhere.

Visit hoolanapublishing.org for more information, or follow Kai on Instagram: @kai.e.gaspar 

Praise for Ulu

The poems in this rich and moving collection could only have been written by Kai, but they are also about us. We see ourselves quite multisided. The poems are Kai and us. He turns everyday life into poems that are funny and deep. The imagery is superb and vivid, descriptions of scenery and movement quite original. The collection is also very Hawaiian—Kai’s style of Hawaiian, said his way. He has created his own Hawaiian language in this collection. A magnificent addition to the body of poetry written by Kai’s people.

 —Albert Wendt, author of Leaves of the Banyan Tree, Black Rainbow, The Book of the Black Star, The Mango’s Kiss, The Adventures of Vela, and From Mānoa to a Ponsonby Garden

A kaleidoscopic collection linked by a coming-of-age poetic novella set in a small town rife with gut-punching stories of sex, drug addiction, and domestic violence. At the center is the crotch-cruising, nocturnal mattress-pissing young man who pines for “lips flushed pink like a marshland bloom.” Lyrical, brazen—a stunning debut. 

 —R. Zamora Linmark, author of Rolling the R’s, The Importance of Being Wilde at Heart, and Pop Verite 

 Weave a lei and wear it before reading Ulu, Kai Gaspar’s pungently sensual first collection of poetry and prose. When I’m deep in this enchanting ulu of haunting narratives—broken family, queer exploration and aching love of land and culture—I’m ‘ono for ‘ulu baked in the imu, ‘ulu prepared with coconut milk that satisfies Pacific Islander hunger. Gaspar’s raw yet lyrical language channels that of Haunani-Kay Trask, Dan Taulapapa McMullin, R. Zamora Linmark and Sia Figiel. A must-read, long-awaited contribution to Pacific Literature!

 —Emelihter Kihleng, author of My Urohs and co-editor of Indigenous Literatures from Micronesia

In this intoxicating collection, Gaspar blends Hawaiian and English into potions, remedies, talismans, and incantations that conjure restless spirits, haunting memories, and defiant desires. Line after line, Ulu blossoms and ripens, wounds and heals. 

 —John Zuern, Professor at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and co-editor of Biography

Item Special Note

Special Notes:Please note: SHIP OR PICK UP. The winning bidder will be responsible for additional shipping and handling fees and Hawaii State tax (4.166%). We try our best to ship items as economically as possible. Most are shipped flat rate but larger or unusually shaped items may need to be shipped priority. Winning bidder is also responsible for postal insurance if the item's value is over $500.

As with all auctions, item is sold "as is" with no refunds available.

The winning bidder will be notified via email Wednesday, April 3rd and asked for his or her preference of receiving the awarded item (pickup or ship).

Items won during Kona Historical Society's 2024 Online Auction are available for pickup from the Society's Kalukalu Headquarters in Kealakekua for 90 days from close of auction. If items are not picked up by close of business on the 90th day (June 29, 2024), items are forfeited! No refunds will be granted for forfeit items. All arrangements to pick up items should be made in advance with Kona Historical Society.