Pacific Islanders in Publishing
Polynesia
Polynesians are people who are indigenous to any of the island groups of ʻUvea, American Sāmoa, Aotearoa, the Cook Islands, Futuna, Hawaiʻi, Māʻohi Nui, Niue, Rapa Nui, Sāmoa, Tokelau, Tonga, and Tuvalu.
Adult Fiction
Tīhema Baker
Māori
(he/him)
Tīhema (Raukawa te Au ki te Tonga, Ātiawa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Toa Rangatira) is a writer from Ōtaki. He has a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington, for which he wrote his novel Turncoat. In 2013, he won the Best Short Story written in te reo Māori at the Pikihuia Awards of Māori Writers.
Michael Bennett
Māori
(he/him)
Michael Bennett (Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Whakaue) is an award-winning New Zealand screenwriter and author. In 2019 his graphic novel Helen and the Go-Go Ninjas, a collaboration with acclaimed artist Ant Sang, received an international White Raven Award. His lastest novel, Better the Blood, was a Ockham NZ Book Awards 2023 Finalist.
Melissa Llanes Brownlee
Hawaiian
(she/her)
Born and raised in Hawai’i, Melissa Llanes Brownlee has had flash fiction in SmokeLong Quarterly, Superstition Review, NFFR, JMWW, Milk Candy Review, trampset, and Best Microfiction 2022, among others. She's the author of two fiction collections, Hard Skin (Juventud Press) and Kahi and Lua (Alien Buddha Press).
Jade Kake
Māori
(she/her)
Jade is an architectural designer based in Whangārei. She writes fiction and non-fiction, and received the Copyright Licensing New Zealand and New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa Writers’ Award in 2021. Her novel, Checkerboard Hill, was published in 2023.
Megan Kamalei Kakimoto
Kānaka Maoli
(she/her)
Megan is a Japanese and Native Hawaiian writer from Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. Her fiction has been featured in Granta, Conjunctions, Joyland, and elsewhere. She was a finalist for the Keene Prize for Literature and has received support from the Rona Jaffe Foundation and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. She is represented by Iwalani Kim.
Shay Kauwe
Hawaiian
(she/her)
Shay Kauwe (Zykova) is a Native Hawaiian urban fantasy author. Her forthcoming book In Language There is Death releases from Saga Press in spring 2025. She is represented by Jon Cobb at HG Literary.
Keala Kendall
Kānaka Maoli
(she/her)
Keala Kendall is a writer of science fiction, fantasy and horror. Her debut novel, How Far I'll Go, a twist on Disney's Moana for the Twisted Tales series, will come out in 2025. She is represented by Jennifer March Soloway (Andrea Brown Literary Agency).
Rebecca K. Reilly
Māori
(she/her)
Rebecca (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Wai) is the author of Greta and Valdin (2021), winner of the 2021 Hubert Church Prize for Best First Book at the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, also published in the UK & US in 2024. Rebecca is represented by Martha Perotto-Wills at The Bent Agency.
Mariah Rigg
Sāmoan
(she/her)
Mariah was born and raised on Oʻahu. In 2023, he chapbook, All Hat, No Cattle, was published by Bull City Press. She holds an MFA from the University of Oregon and is a PhD candidate at the University of Tennessee. She’s represented by Amy Bishop-Wycisk (Trellis Literary Management). Her short story collection, Extinction Capital of the World, will be published by Ecco (2025).
Sascha Stronach
Kiritea Māori
(she/her)
Sascha Stronach is a Māori author from the Kai Tahu iwi and Kati Huirapa Runaka Ki Puketeraki hapu. She is based in Wellington, New Zealand, and has also spent time in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore, which have all inspired parts of the fictional worlds she creates. The Dawnhounds, her debut novel, won the Sir Julius Vogel Award at Worldcon 78.
Célestine Vaite
Mā'ohi
(she/her)
Célestine Vaite is a Tahitian award-winning novelist, published in seventeen countries and translated in eight languages. She's the author of the best-selling Materena Mahi series, and has recently contributed to the opera Ihitai 'Avei'a – Star Navigator composed by Tim Finn.
Makana Yamamoto
Kānaka Maoli
(they/them)
Makana Yamamoto was born on the island of Maui. Splitting their time between the Mainland and Hawaiʻi, Makana grew up on beaches and in snowbanks. They're the author of the forthcoming adult sci-fi Hammajang Luck (Gollancz, 2025). They're represented by Keir Alekseii.
Children's Fiction
Kaua Māhoe Adams
Kānaka Maoli
(she/her)
Kaua is an author originally from Seattle, Washington. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Washington and is currently earning her Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She writes stories about Kānaka kids looking for a way home. Kaua is represented by Sara Crowe at Sara Crowe Literary. Her YA debut novel in verse, An Expanse of Blue, will release in 2026 (Heartdrum).
Manuia Heinrich
Mā'ohi
(she/her)
Manuia Heinrich is a Mā'ohi writer of Young Adult fiction and researcher with a PhD in Pacific Studies from Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. She lives in Aotearoa New Zealand. She is represented by Marin Takikawa of the Friedrich Agency.
Kumu Hina
Kānaka Maoli
(she/her)
Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu (Kumu Hina) is a teacher and community leader. She was previously a founding member of Kulia Na Mamo, a community organization established to improve the quality of life for māhū wahine (transgender women), and Cultural Director at a public charter school dedicated to native Hawaiian culture.
Mark Kanemura
Sāmoan
(he/him)
Mark Kanemura was born and raised in Honolulu where he first discovered his love for dance and theater. He now lives in Los Angeles, where he works as a dancer, teacher, and entertainer. He has appeared as a contestant and choreographer on FOX’s So You Think You Can Dance and has danced and toured the world with artists like Carly Rae Jepsen, Katy Perry, Janet Jackson, Beyonce, and Lady Gaga.
Keala Kendall
Kānaka Maoli
(she/her)
Keala Kendall is a Kānaka Maoli writer of science fiction, fantasy and horror. Her YA debut novel, How Far I'll Go, a twist on Disney's Moana, will come out in 2025. She is represented by Jennifer March Soloway (Andrea Brown Literary Agency).
Leilani Lamb
Kānaka Maoli
(she/her)
Leilani Lamb writes young adult fiction across genres about myths, monsters, and monstrous ambition. She is a 2023 Lambda Literary Fellow for Emerging LGBTQ+ Voices, a 2022 Writers’ League of Texas Fellow, and she works as a mental health advocate based in Austin. She is represented by Hannah Andrade (Bradford Literary).
Kalena Makanui
Hawaiian
(she/her)
Kalena Makanui is a Kānaka Maoli writer from Hawaiʻi Island. She loves storytelling in all forms, especially theater and anything with a hint of magic. She is represented by Katie Gisondi and Laura Dail.
Dahlia Malaeulu
Sāmoan
(she/her)
Dahlia Malaeulu is an award-winning author and publisher of Mila’s Books. A Samoan New Zealander, Dahlia is passionate about the power of Pasifika stories. She was the recipient of the Creative New Zealand Pasifika Emerging Pacific Artist Award (2022) and the NZ Emerging Publisher Award (2023).
Selina Tusitala Marsh
Sāmoan/Tuvalua
(she/her)
Poet and scholar Selina Tusitala Marsh is of Sāmoan, Tavaluan, English, Scottish, and French descent. She was the first Pacific Islander to earn a PhD in English from the University of Auckland. She is the author of two collections of poetry, Fast Talking PI (2009), and of the children's illustrated series Mophead.
Steph Matuku
Māori
(she/her)
Steph Matuku (Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Tama, Te Atiawa) is a freelance writer from Taranaki. She enjoys writing stories for young people, and her work has appeared on the page, stage and screen. Whetū Toa and the Magician was a finalist at the 2019 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
Malia Maunakea
Hawaiian
(she/her)
Malia is a Hawaiian writer who grew up in the rainforest on the Big Island before moving to a valley on O’ahu in seventh grade. When she isn’t writing can be found roaming the Colorado Rocky Mountains with her husband, their two children, and a rescue mutt named Peggy. She writes non-fiction and fiction and is represented by Suzie Townsend and Sarah Gerton.
Kealani Netane
Sāmoan/Hawaiian
(she/her)
Kealani Netane is a Native Hawaiian and Sāmoan author who was raised on the leeward side of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi where she currently resides. She writes picture books and is the author of Tala Learns to Siva illustrated by Dung Ho (Scholastic, 2024). She is represented by Ellen Pauley Goff (HG Literary).
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. He now works with kids as a speech clinician in Guam, and enjoys exercising, baking healthy desserts, and watching movies based on books.
Terisa Siagatonu
Sāmoan
(she/they)
Terisa Siagatonu is an award-winning poet, teaching artist, mental health educator, and community leader born and rooted in the Bay Area. Terisa is represented by Wendi Gu.
Mahani Teave
Rapa Nui
(she/her)
Rapa Nui award-winning pianist and humanitarian Mahani Teave is a pioneering artist who bridges the creative world with education and environmental activism. She is one of the founders of Toki Rapa Nui, a nonprofit dedicated to the island's ecological and cultural preservation.
Ilima Todd
Hawaiian
(she/her)
Ilima Todd was born and raised on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii, and now lives in the Southwest with her husband and four children. Her picture book Our Sacred Mountain, illustrated by Shar Tui'asoa is scheduled for winter 2024 (HarperCollins). She is represented by Lane Heymont.
Célestine Vaite
Mā'ohi
(she/her)
Célestine Vaite is a Tahitian award-winning novelist, published in seventeen countries and translated in eight languages. She's the author of the best-selling Materena Mahi series, and has recently contributed to the opera Ihitai 'Avei'a – Star Navigator composed by Tim Finn.
Comic Books
Michel Mulipola
Sāmoan
(he/him)
Michel Mulipola is a comic book artist and writer from Auckland. He has illustrated work for BOOM! Studios' line of WWE comics, various anthologies, and is currently working on the U.S. comic book, Headlocked: The Last Territory, and is a Story Artist for Walt Disney Animation studios on an upcoming project.
Carl Shinyama
Kānaka Maoli
(he/him)
Carl is a comic book editor from Maui with multiple independent comics to his name, including an upcoming graphic novel picked up by the United Nations.
Anthology Editors
C. M. Kaliko Baker
Kānaka Maoli
(he/him)
C. M. Kaliko Baker has been a Kumu 'Ōlelo Hawai'i in Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawai'i since 1996. His research focuses on Hawaiian grammar, traditional Hawaiian narratives, and the revitalization of Hawaiian. He co-authored Hawaiian-medium plays with Tammy Haili'ōpua Baker and also serves as dramaturge.
Tammy Haili'opua Baker
Kānaka Maoli
(she/her)
Originally from Kapa‘a, Kaua‘i, playwright/director Tammy Haili‘ōpua Baker is an Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, where she is the director of the MFA programs in Playwriting and Hawaiian Theatre.
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Sisilia Eteuati
Sāmoan
(she/her)
Writer and lawyer Sisilia Eteuati is the co-editor of Vā - Stories by Women of the Moana, a collection of 38 short fictional stories by Pacific women authors. Sisilia co-founded Tatou Publishing and has served as lawyer in Samoa, Australia and Aotearoa. Her writing has been published across the Pacific.
Rebecca H. Hogue
Hawaiian
(she/they)
Rebecca H. Hogue writes and teaches about empire, militarization, and the environment in Oceania. She earned her PhD in English at the University of California, where she was a Mellon/ACLS fellow. She is currently working on a book manuscript, "Nuclear Archipelagos," on women's anti-nuclear arts and literatures of the Pacific, and is the co-editor, along with Craig Santos Perez, of a forthcoming anthology on Environmental Relations in the Pacific Islands.
Grace Iwashita-Taylor
Samoan/Japanese/British
(she/her)
Grace is Sāmoan, English, and Japanese. She’s an artist dedicated to carving, elevating, and holding spaces for storytellers of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. She co-edited the anthology Rapture (2023) and is currently working on her next body of work, Water Memories.
Kura Te Waru Rewiri
Māori
(she/her)
Kura Te Waru-Rewiri (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Rangi, Ngāti Kauwhata) is one of Aotearoa New Zealand's most celebrated Māori artists. She co-edited Ki Mua, Ki Muri (2023), a work of non-fiction that celebrates 25 years of Toioho ki Āpiti programme at Massey University.
Poetry
Nicola "Nicky" Andrews
Māori
(ia/she/they)
Nicola Andrews (Ngāti Paoa, Pākehā) is a poet and writer. Their poetry micro-chap Sentimental Value was published in 2023 (Ghost City Press), and their debut chapbook Māori Maid Difficult is out with Tram Editions (2024).
Audrey Brown-Pereira
Cook Island/Sāmoan
(she/her)
Audrey is a poet of Cook Island, Māori, and Sāmoan descent. Her work has appeared in journals such as Mauri Ola and Trout. Her poetry collections include Threads of Tivaevae: Kaleidoscope of Kolours (2002), a collaborative work with Veronica Vaevae and Catherine George; passages in between i(s)lands (2014); and a - wake - (e)nd with Sauo'fi Press (2023).
Leora Kava
Tongan
(she/her)
Leora Kava is a hafekasi poet of mixed Tongan and pālangi descent. She is an assistant professor of critical Pacific Islands and Oceania studies at San Francisco State University.
Selina Tusitala Marsh
Sāmoan/Tuvalua
(she/her)
Poet and scholar Selina Tusitala Marsh is of Sāmoan, Tavaluan, English, Scottish, and French descent. She was the first Pacific Islander to earn a PhD in English from the University of Auckland. She is the author of two collections of poetry, Fast Talking PI (2009), and of the children's illustrated series Mophead.
Terisa Siagatonu
Sāmoan
(she/they)
Terisa Siagatonu is an award-winning poet, teaching artist, mental health educator, and community leader born and rooted in the Bay Area.
Alice Te Punga Somerville
Māori
(she/her)
Alice is a Māori scholar and poet. Her monograph Once Were Pacific: Maori Connections to Oceania won Best First Book 2012 from the Native American & Indigenous Studies Association. Her poetry collection Always Italicise is the 2023 Winner Ockham Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry.
