Pacific Islanders in Publishing
Micronesia
Micronesians are people who are indigenous to any of the island groups of Chuuk, Guåhan, Kiribati, Kosrae, the Marshall Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, Nauru, Palau, Pohnpei, and Yap.
Adult Fiction
Paula Quinene
CHamoru
(she/her)
Paula Quinene was born and raised on Guam. She graduated from the University of Oregon in 1997 with a Bachelor's of Science in Exercise and Movement Science, hoping to return to the island as an anatomy teacher. Paula's homesickness or "mahalangness" resulted in her self-published Guam cookbooks, A Taste of Guam, and Remember Guam, and her self-published romance novels set in Guam, Conquered and Stormed. She is now the food columnist of Guam's local paper, the Pacific Daily News.
Teresia Kieuea Teaiwa
I-Kiribati
(she/her)
Teresia Teaiwa was a distinguished award winning I-Kiribati and Black scholar, poet, activist and mentor. She was born in Honolulu, Hawai'i, and was raised in Fiji. She was the the author of the poetry collection, Searching for Nei Him'anoa (1995), and coauthor of Last Virgin in Paradise: A One-Act Play (1993, with Vilsoni Hereniko). Her creative work was also published in Terenesia: Amplified Poetry and Songs by Teresia Teaiwa and Sia Figiel (2000).
Children's Fiction
Makiia Lucier
CHamoru
(she/her)
Makiia Lucier is the author of Year of the Reaper, the Isle of Blood and Stone duology, and A Death-Struck Year.
She grew up on the Pacific island of Guam, not too far from the equator, and holds degrees in journalism and library science.
She lives with her family in Portland, Oregon. She is represented by Suzie Townsend.
Catherine Payne
CHamoru/Hawaiian
(she/her)
Catherine Payne has been a storyteller all her life. After earning master's degrees from Harvard University and Columbia University, she worked as a journalist in Michigan and Virginia. Several years later, she returned to her native Guam, where she works as an English instructor and tutor. Linktree
John Payne II
CHamoru/Hawaiian
(he/him)
When John Payne discovered superhero comic books, they sparked in him a lifelong and expansive love of reading. This passion led to an interest in speech and language, which John formally pursued at San Jose State University and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He now works with kids as a speech clinician in Guam, and enjoys exercising, baking healthy desserts, and watching movies based on books.
Juleah del Rosario
CHamoru
(she/her)
Juleah del Rosario is the author of 500 Words or Less and Turtle Under Ice. She is the 2019 recipient of the Colorado Book Award for Young Adult Literature, and lives a book and mountain-filled existence as a librarian in Colorado. She is represented by Brent Taylor.
Anthology Editors
Evelyn Flores
CHamoru
(she/her)
Dr. Evelyn Flores is a professor of English at the University of Guam. Born on Guam, Dr. Flores obtained her Master's in English from Andrews University in Michigan, and then went to the University of Michigan Ann Arbor where she completed her PhD in Pacific Islander Literature, Ethnic Literature, and late 19th-century American literature. Together with Dr. Kihleng, Dr. Flores put together the first ever anthology of Micronesian literature, Indigenous Literatures from Micronesia.
Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner
Marshallese
(she/her)
Kathy is a Marshall Islander poet, performance artist, and educator. She received international acclaim through her poetry performance at the opening of the United Nations Climate Summit in New York in 2014. Her writing and performances have been featured by CNN, Democracy Now, the Huffington Post, NBC News, National Geographic, and more. She is Climate Envoy for the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the director of Jo-Jikum, an environmental nonprofit.
Emelihter Kihleng
CHamoru
(she/her)
Dr. Emelihter Kihleng is a Pohnpeian poet. Born in Guam, she obtained a master's degree in creative writing from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, and later received a PhD in Pacific Studies from the Victoria University of Wellington. She is the first ever Micronesian to publish a collection of poetry in the English language. Together with Dr. Evelyn Flores, Dr. Kihleng put together the first ever anthology of Micronesian literature, Indigenous Literatures from Micronesia.
Poetry
John Aguon
Chamorro
(he/him)
Julian Aguon is an Indigenous human rights lawyer and writer from Guam. He is the founder of Blue Ocean Law, a progressive firm that works at the intersection of Indigenous rights and environmental justice. He serves on the Global Advisory Council of Progressive International. He is represented by Duvall Osteen of Aragi Agency.
Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner
Marshallese
(she/her)
Kathy is a Marshall Islander poet, performance artist, and educator. She received international acclaim through her poetry performance at the opening of the United Nations Climate Summit in New York in 2014. Her writing and performances have been featured by CNN, Democracy Now, the Huffington Post, NBC News, National Geographic, and more. In February 2017, the University of Arizona Press published her first collection of poetry, Iep Jāltok: Poems from a Marshallese Daughter.
Emelihter Kihleng
CHamoru
(she/her)
Dr. Emelihter Kihleng is a Pohnpeian poet. Born in Guam, she obtained a master's degree in creative writing from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, and later received a PhD in Pacific Studies from the Victoria University of Wellington. She is the first ever Micronesian to publish a collection of poetry in the English language. Together with Dr. Evelyn Flores, Dr. Kihleng put together the first ever anthology of Micronesian literature, Indigenous Literatures from Micronesia.
Teresia Kieuea Teaiwa
I-Kiribati
(she/her)
Teresia Teaiwa was a distinguished award winning I-Kiribati and Black scholar, poet, activist and mentor. She was born in Honolulu, Hawai'i, and was raised in Fiji. She was the the author of the poetry collection, Searching for Nei Him'anoa (1995), and coauthor of Last Virgin in Paradise: A One-Act Play (1993, with Vilsoni Hereniko). Her creative work was also published in Terenesia: Amplified Poetry and Songs by Teresia Teaiwa and Sia Figiel (2000).
Memoir
Lenika Cruz
CHamoru
(she/her)
Lenika Cruz is a senior editor covering culture at The Atlantic, where she's been a staffer since 2014. She is an indigenous writer and editor of Chamorro, Okinawan, and Filipino heritage from the Pacific island of Guam. She graduated from UCLA in 2012 with a B.A. in English. She is represented by Lucy Carson with the Friedrich Agency.
Cookbooks
Paula Quinene
CHamoru
(she/her)
Paula Quinene was born and raised on Guam. She graduated from the University of Oregon in 1997 with a Bachelor's of Science in Exercise and Movement Science, hoping to return to the island as an anatomy teacher. Paula's homesickness or "mahalangness" resulted in her Guam cookbooks, A Taste of Guam, and Remember Guam, and her romance novels set in Guam, Conquered and Stormed. She is now the food columnist of Guam's local paper, the Pacific Daily News.
Nonfiction and Essays
John Aguon
Chamorro
(he/him)
Julian Aguon is an Indigenous human rights lawyer and writer from Guam. He is the founder of Blue Ocean Law, a progressive firm that works at the intersection of Indigenous rights and environmental justice. He serves on the Global Advisory Council of Progressive International. He is represented by Duvall Osteen of Aragi Agency.
Lenika Cruz
CHamoru
(she/her)
Lenika Cruz is a senior editor covering culture at The Atlantic, where she's been a staffer since 2014. She is an indigenous writer and editor of Chamorro, Okinawan, and Filipino heritage from the Pacific island of Guam. She graduated from UCLA in 2012 with a B.A. in English. She is represented by Lucy Carson with the Friedrich Agency.
Christine Taitano DeLisle
CHamoru
(she/her)
Christine (Tina) Taitano DeLisle is a CHamoru daughter of Guåhan (Guam) residing on the Dakota homelands of Minneapolis. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota. Her research commitments are on researching Native Pacific Islander histories, especially women’s stories, public history and rewriting histories of the island of Guåhan from a CHamoru perspective.