معرفی
Dr. Leora Kava is an Assistant Professor of Critical Pacific Islands & Oceania Studies within the Department of Race and Resistance Studies at San Francisco State University. Her work bridges creative writing, Indigenous theory, and decolonization, focusing on Pacific Islander literatures and environmental politics. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (2019), an MA in Pacific Islands Studies (2015), and a BA in East Asian Studies (2012).
Dr. Kava's research explores the intersections of Pacific Islander genealogies, creative writing, and archival practices. She founded the Pacific Verse project in Tonga, fostering community poetry and music creation. Her Fulbright grant (2019–2020) supported collaborative arts projects with the Selekā collective in Tonga. Her published works include poetry in Kore Press and The Hawaiʻi Review, as well as critical essays in Amerasia Journal and Poetry.
- Education:
- B.A., East Asian Studies, Brown University (2012)
- M.A., Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (2015)
- PhD, Creative Writing, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (2019)
Her current projects include co-editing a Pacific Islander writing anthology with Craig Santos Perez and Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner (forthcoming from UH Press), and transforming her dissertation Matala: poems into a publishable manuscript. Her creative work employs found poetry techniques to intertwine personal narratives with colonial archives and Tongan cultural heritage.
Awards include the prestigious Fulbright Grant (2019–2020). She advocates for Pacific literatures as tools for community empowerment and liberatory futures.
