Two noted political science professors in the College of Social Sciences at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa have won 2019 Ka Palapala Poʻokela awards from the Hawaiʻi Book Publishers Association.
Noelani Goodyear-Kaʻōpua political science department chair, edited Nā Wāhine Koa: Hawaiian Women for Sovereignty and Demilitarization (UH Press, in association with Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge), which tied for first place in the Hawaiian language culture and history category.
Noenoe K. Silva won first place in the category of Aloha from Across the Sea (out-of-state publishers) for Power of the Steel-tipped Pen: Reconstructing Native Hawaiian Intellectual History (Duke University Press).
“We are delighted that our faculty have been honored for their excellence in academic writing and editing,” said College of Social Sciences Dean Denise Eby Konan. “Noelani and Noenoe regularly impart their considerable knowledge of political science with students in the classroom and now, through their award-winning books, can share their valuable insight with the community and the world.”
More about the books
Goodyear-Kaʻōpua’s winning title, Nā Wāhine Koa, documents the political lives of longtime activists Moanikeʻala Akaka, Maxine Kahaulelio, Terrilee Kekoʻolani-Raymond and Loretta Ritte. The judges recognized that the book’s “text and visual components are skillfully crafted and edited, allowing readers to deeply connect with the personal narratives, photographs, news articles and other primary sources shared by the co-authors.” The panel also noted the book “provides an important contribution to scholarship about the Hawaiian Renaissance and the leadership of Hawaiian women in exercising aloha ʻāina.”
The category co-winner was Hoʻoulu Hawaiʻi: The King Kalākaua Era by Healoha Johnston (Honolulu Museum of Art).
Silva’s winning title, Power of the Steel-tipped Pen, spotlights the writings of Joseph Hoʻonaʻauao Kānepuʻu and Joseph Mokuʻōhai Poepoe. The judges commented that the book as “a crucial step in any journey that aims to understand the breadth and depth of Kanaka ʻŌiwi thought.” Silva’s personal interests include recovering Kanaka Maoli history and literature through reading the under-used texts in Hawaiian from the 19th and early 20th centuries. She is also interested in the possibilities of developing theory from within Hawaiian epistemologies and worldviews.
