Mookini Library

In the Poetry section, there are over 25 books listed in alphabetical order by title. Scroll down the page and find the title that interests you.  Permission to scan the cover of THE ECHO OF OUR SONG: CHANTS & POEMS OF THE HAWAIIANS, translated and edited by Mary K. Pukui & Alfons L. Korn (University of Hawaii Press,  c1973) was granted by the University of Hawaii Press. No other use of this image, including electronic transmission, is allowed without express permission from the publisher.

Books about Hawai'i are marked with a palm tree

• The Art of the Lathe: Poems, by B.H. Fairchild. 1998.
  poems about ordinary people--machinists, welders, and farmers
• The Best of Bamboo Ridge, The Hawaii Writers' Quarterly, edited by Eric Chock and Darrell H.Y. Lum. 1986.
  poetry and short stories by "local" writers, previously published in Bamboo Ridge between 1978 to 1985
• Best Poems of the Bronte Sisters, by Emily, Anne, and Charlotte Bronte. 1997.
  poetry by famous 19th century English authors
• Black Mesa Poems, by Jimmy Santiago Baca. 1989.
  poems about family and community, birth and death--life in a Southwest barrio
• Blake's Selected Poems, by William Blake. 1995.
  the poems were selected by selected by David and Virginia Erdman
  
• The Book of Psalms, edited by Shane Weller. 1993.
  150 psalms, "traditionally attributed to King David," are found in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible "and the first part of the Ketuvim (Writings) of the Hebrew Bible." They were songs of praise and faith and may have been accompanied by musical instruments
• Breaking Silence: An Anthology of Contemporary Asian American Poets, edited by Joseph Bruchac. 1983.
  poetry by Asian Americans, including those of Japanese, Chinese, Filipino and East Indian ancestry
• Buss Laugh, edited by Lee A. Tonoguchi. 2009.
  A collection of poetry written by Hawaii writers.
• Camp Notes and Other Writings, by Mitsuye Yamada. 1998.
  reflections on living in an Idaho internment camp during the outbreak of World War II
• Chicago Poems, by Carl Sandburg. 1994.
  a collection of poems by one of America's favorite early 20th century poets
• The Classic Hundred Poems: All-time Favorites, edited by William Harmon. 1998.
  poetry from the 16th through the 20th centuries
• The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou, 1994.
  contemporary Black American writer's poetry
• The Congo and Other Poems, by Vachel Lindsay. 1914, 1992.
  the author also wrote children's poems
• Crossing the Snow Bridge, by Fatima Lim-Wilson. 1995.
  poetry about the Philippines and America by Filipino Americans
• Dancing the Waves and Other Poems, by Steven Curry. 1998.
  to describe his surfing, a Hawai`i writer uses poetry and includes some photos by Wayne Levin
• The Echo of Our Song: Chants & Poems of the Hawaiians, translated and edited by Mary K. Pukui & Alfons L. Korn.
  a large collection translated into English
• The Essential Dickinson, selected by Joyce Carol Oates. 1996.
  Emily Dickinson's poems of beauty and love are represented here
• Fire in the Sea: an Anthology of Poetry and Art, selected by Sue Cowing. 1996.
  selections primarily by Pacific Islanders' (Tonga, Samoa, Hawaii, Micronesia, etc.) are included
• Great Love Poems, edited by Shane Weller. 1992.
  a collection of well known poems
• Growing Up Local: An Anthology of Poetry and Prose From Hawai`i, edited by Eric Chock, James R. Harstad, Darrell H.Y. Lum and Bill Teter. 1998.
  
• Gunga Din and Other Favorite Poems, by Rudyard Kipling. 1990.
  the author of The Jungle Book, a children's classic, was also a poet
• Hanai, A Poem for Queen Liliuokalani, by John Dominis Holt. 1986.
  the author of Waimea Summer, shows his love and respect for Hawaii's last queen
• Harper's Anthology of 20th Century Native American Poetry, edited by Duane Niatum. 1988.
  poems about cultural conflict, family and nature are included in this collection
• The Hawaiians, an Island People, by Helen G. Pratt. 1963.
  each chapter covers different aspects of Hawaiian culture; poetry and legends are included in the Appendix
• Hilo Rains, by Juliet Kono. 1988.
  plantation life is depicted in this collection of poetry
• Hints in Haiku; Japan's Pulse-beat, by Norimoto Iino. [1967]
  American haiku is presented here, with commentaries
• Imaginary Museum: Poems on Art, by Joseph Stanton. 1999.
  the poet's responses to classical painters' works, certain movies and noh plays inspired this collection
• Intensive Care: More Poetry and Prose by Nurses, edited by Cortney Davis and Judy Schaefer. 2003.
  sixty-four nurses, male and female, from around the world, tell of tough health care work
• John Lennon In His Own Write, by John Lennon. 1964.
  includes drawings, poetry and short stories by Lennon, a member of the Beatles
• Last Days Here, by Eric Chock. 1990.
  contemporary Hawaii writer's poems
• Legends From Camp: Poems, by Lawson Fusao Inada. 1993.
  these poems are told from the perspective of a Japanese American relocated to an internment camp during World War II
• Light in the Crevice Never Seen, by Haunani-Kay Trask. 1994.
  contemporary Hawaiian activist shares her poetry
• The Morrow Anthology of Younger American Poets, edited by Dave Smith and David Bottoms. 1985.
  104 poets, born between 1940 and 1955, and their works are included
• Motion: American Sports Poems, edited by Noah Blausten. 2001.
  an anthology of poetry reflecting the energy and struggles of various athletes
• The Narrow Road to Oku, by Matsuo Basho, translated by Donald Keene, Illustrated by Miyata Masayuki. 1996.
  A Japanese poet chronicles the 150 day journey to visit his mother’s grave
• Niihau: the Traditions of a Hawaiian Island, by Rerioterai and Moses K. Keale, Sr. 1989.
  past and present ways of life; includes mele and legends
• Olelo Noeau: Hawaiian Proverbs & Poetical Sayings, collected, translated, and annotated by Mark Kawena Pukui. 1983.
  a collection of proverbs by a woman whose preservation of the Hawaiian language in written form will be used for generations to come
• The Phoenix Gone, the Terrace Empty, by Marilyn Chin. 1994.
a collection of poems reflecting the author's Chinese American culture

• Plants of Old Hawaii, by Lois Lucas. c1982.
  About 450 A.D., the ancient Hawaiians settled Hawaii and brought 20 plants with them from the South Pacific. Information, drawings and a poem about each plant are included
• Poems, by Robert Burns. 1987, 1991.
  43 of the famous Scotman's poems, including Auld Lang Syne
• Poetry Hawaii: a Contemporary Anthology, edited by Frank Stewart and John Unterecker. 1979.
  poems by several Hawaii residents are featured in this collection
• Prussian nights: a poem,by Alexander Solzhenitsyn and translated by Robert Conquest. 1977.
  a Russian army officer recounts atrocities committed during the ending of World War II
• A Puerto Rican Poet on Hawaii's Sugar Plantation, by Blase Camacho Souza, Austin Dias and Carlos Fraticelli. 2000
  .stories of Puerto Rican immigrants are told through poetry
• Renascence, and Other Poems, by Edna St. Vincent Millay. 1991.
  a selection of poems by one of America's most famous women poets
• Returning a Borrowed Tongue: Poems by Filipino and Filipino American Writers, edited by Nick Carbo. 1995.
  using English as their "borrowed" language, poets write about immigration, racism, poverty, exploitation, etc.
• Rhapsody in Plain Yellow, by Marilyn Chin. 2002.
  "a fusion of East and West, high culture and popular culture, of ancient Chinese history and of the American present"
• Rhythm, Content and Flavor, by Victor Hernandez Cruz. 1989.
  includes the poem, "Borinkins in Hawaii" about Puerto Ricans being taken by ship to work in Hawaii's plantation fields in 1900
• A Sacrificial Zinc, by Mark Cooperman. 2001.
  modern poems about the natural environment of the American West and the Pacific Rim
• Saturday Night at the Pahala Theatre, by Lois-Ann Yamanaka. 1993.
  poetry written in Pidgin about Big Island teenagers
• Seeing the Invisible, edited by Frank Stewart and Bruce Fulton. 1997.
translations of short stories, poetry and essays from America, Asia and the Pacific including many from Korea's contemporary authors
• Selected Poems, by Gwendolyn Brooks. 1963
  .this Black American poetess received the Pulitzer Prize in 1950
• Selected Poems, by Rabindranath Tagore. 1994.
  English translations of the well known Indian poet's work; he received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913
• Selected Poems, by Rita Dove. 1993.
  the Black American poetess who was the Poet Laureate from 1993 to 1995, writes about slavery, freedom and compassion
• Selected Poems of Langston Hughes, 1990.
  Black American, who died in 1967, wrote poetry as well as fiction and plays
• Sharing Secrets, edited by Nora Okja Cobb-Keller and Carrie O'Connor. 1993.
  Hawaii women write about family violence--the pain and healing; includes short stories, poetry and art
• Singer Songwriter, by Alf Taylor. 1992.
  the first collection by one of Australia's most popular poets includes pieces ranging from love to racism
• Sister Stew: Fiction and Poetry by Women, edited by Juliet S. Kono and Cathy Song. 1991.
  poetry and short stories by American women writers, including many from Hawaii, are included
• Success, by Norman Fischer. 2000.
  the spiritual director of the San Francisco Zen Center promotes understanding across the world's religions by his poetry
• Te Rau Maire, Poems and Stories of the Pacific. 1992.
during the 6th Festival of Pacific Arts held in Rarotonga in 1992, writers both young and old contributed to this collection
• The Top 500 Poems, edited by William Harmon. 1992.
  a collection of American and English poems
• Tsunami Years, by Juliet S. Kono. 1995.
  the poetess was born and raised in Hilo
• Unsettling America: An Anthology of Contemporary Multicultural Poetry, edited by Maria Mazziotti Gillan and Jennifer Gillan. 1994.
  large collection representing America's numerous ethnic groups and immigrant cultures
• Voices on the Wind: Polynesian Myths and Chants, by Katherine Luomala. 1986.
  
• Waxing the Lunar Mountain Apple: Poems, by Steven Curry. 1997.
  dreams are the basis for this surfing writer's poems
• Wilderness, Lost Writings of Jim Morrison, Volume I, by Jim Morrison. 1989.
  poetry and short stories of the Doors' Jim Morrison

Biography
Fiction (A-K)
Fiction (L-Z)
Mythology/Legends/Folktales/Ghost Stories
Nonfiction
Short Stories

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