Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 9, 1 May 2009 — New book reprises candor of late Hawaiian poet [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

New book reprises candor of late Hawaiian poet

By Liza Simūn Public Affairs Specialist Think Hawaiian Renaissance of the 1970s and what readily comes to mind is the reinvigoration of mele and hula - not the literary arts. But the consciousnessraising events of the time such as the swell of opposition to development and the bombing of Kaho'olawe fired up the imaginations of a small but audacious circle of loeal writers - among them the late poet Wayne Kaumuali'i Westlake, a charismatic figure who was grounded his own Native Hawaiian heritage as well as a sophisticated knowledge of ancient Chinese literary tradition and a passion for the polemics of avant-garde "beat writers" - the forerunners of today's rappers. Drawing on these global influences, Westlake captured the spirit of Hawai'i with writing that is irreverent, satirical and profound. When Westlake died in a 1984 car accident, his literary colleague Richard Hamasaki initially despaired of ever getting Westlake's poetry to a reading audience. "He was so before his time in the way he took so many risks in standing up for his beliefs that he rarely got published," said

Hamasaki, noting this didn't stop Westlake from helping other loeal writers, often pitting himself against University of Hawai'i academics who seized public arts funding to highlight writers from the U.S. continent, thus ignoring the burgeoning indigenous literature coming from natives of newly independent Pacific nations such as Fiji and New Ouinea. About a decade ago, Hamasaki had a lucky find: the deceased poet's one-time partner Mei-Li Siy entrusted him with Westlake's manuscripts kept stored inside a Hawai'i Island shed. "Termites had eaten through paper but left ink alone," said Hamasaki, who organized and edited the scattered pieces into Westlake: Poems, a comprehensive eollection of his friend's work. To celebrate the posthumous release of the book, Hamasaki has organized a reading of Westlake's work to be presented by several noted Pacific writers who comprise a literary vanguard, with a growing worldwide prominence - something Westlake had visualized. Hamasaki said the new book eonveys that Westlake's presence in eontemporary Pacific literature is utterly unique - equally accessible to the masses as to intellectuals.

A graduate of Punahou, where he was a football standout, Westlake went on to the University of Oregon, where he immersed himself in studies of classical Chinese literature, explained Hamasaki, adding that Westlake initially did not reveal mueh of his Hawaiian side. "Being born in the 1940s, Westlake knew his culture as something that was suppressed. But I think what happened, ironically, is that Wayne eonnected so strongly to Taoist philosophy in Chinese writing so similar to the ancient Hawaiian kahuna way of looking at the world. This was his way of circling back to his Hawaiian identity in a very powerful and traditional manner," said Hamasaki. Praising Westlake's ability to compress both strident politieal protest and a haunting pathos into a few short lines, Hamasaki said Westlake saw poetry as a way to combat the hypocrisy of the modern world. "We throw around phrases like 'aloha 'āina' without too mueh thought to their meaning, but Wayne - with his Taoist influenee and his love of Hawaiian oral tradition percolating just beneath the surface, embraced simplicity but with layered meanings on what the human dilemma is all about." ■

■ , l v , S ' «. Book launeh 6to 8:30 p.m. May 16 Thirtyninehotel in Chinatown Program features the following musicians anel poets: Miehael Puleloa (emeee), H. Doug Matsuoka (DJ), Albert Wendt, Reina Whaitiri, Haunani-KayTrask, Robert Sullivan, Lee Tonouchi, Ku'ualoha Ho'omanawanui of Kuleana 'Ūiwi Press, state Sen. Russell Kokubun (Wayne's good friend since middle school at Punahou), Kathryn Takara, Sage U'ilani Takehira with FAT ULU, Brandy McDougall of Kahuaomānoa Prass, Steve Rosenthal, Richard Hamasaki and othercontributing artists. freewebs.com/redflea

NĀ PUKE - B00KS KA WAI OLA | ĪHE L I V I N G WAĪER 0F OHA

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WESTLAKE: Poems by Wayne Kaumuali'i Edited by Mei-Li M. Siy and Richard Hamasaki University of Hawai'i Press