15 books by Pacific Islanders that tell incredible stories about their culture
Including anecdotes from Queen Lili'uokalani herself to fictional pieces written in lyrical prose.
Including anecdotes from Queen Lili'uokalani herself to fictional pieces written in lyrical prose.
Pacific Islanders are the group that makes up the "PI" part in AAPI, or Asian American and Pacific Islander identities. They're a much smaller group — in fact, according to the 2019 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, there are roughly 1.4 million Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders "alone or in combination with one of more races who reside within the United States." Thus, this group is often underrepresented in media, and when their culture actually is featured, society often paints a false narrative of paradise. The history of the islands is complicated, but the spirit of the people who live and have origins there is unwavering.
To better understand and appreciate the Pacific Islander culture in a respectful way, it's a good idea to dig into books written by Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander authors. You'll find that these books — novels and fiction — often utilize different writing styles, such as lyrical prose and poetry, and have likely only recently been translated to English in the past few decades, which makes for a more interesting read. Ahead, 15 historical novels, poetry and fiction books written by Pacific Islander authors:
After you read through this list, be sure to check out our favorite books by Latinx authors, Black authors and Asian authors.
