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ABSTRACT
In this interview conducted in 2014, the poet and academic Brandy Nālani McDougall discusses the ways in which her poetic practice intersects with her identity as a Kanaka Maoli wahine (Native Hawaiian woman) and her role as a literary activist. Born and brought up on Maui, the second largest Hawaiian island, surrounded by moʻolelo (stories), she is moved to write about her home, its history and people in ways that both reflect the past and project a vision of the future. Revealing the role of testimony in her writing, how kaona (hidden meaning) emerges as she writes and why she considers contemporary poetry as part of a continuum of Hawaiian literature, McDougall offers a glimpse into her kuleana (responsibility/privilege) as a poet.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
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Notes on contributors
Emma Scanlan
Emma Scanlan co-organized the conference “Pacific Waves: Reverberations from Oceania” at the University of Sussex in 2015, from which this special issue of the Journal of Postcolonial Writing arises. This research was conducted as part of her Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded doctorate, undertaken at the University of Sussex. She currently teaches English literature at Canterbury Christ Church University.