kuʻualoha hoʻomanawanui

Kuʻualoha Hoʻomanawanui is a Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) scholar, poet, artist, and kiaʻi aloha ʻāina currently serving as a Full Professor of Hawaiian Literature in the Department of English at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She specializes in traditional moʻolelo (Hawaiian literature including folklore and mythology), Moana Nui (Oceanic, Pasifika) literature, and Indigenous perspectives on literacy. Her research focuses on place-based literature and literacy, with a strong emphasis on Indigenous and Oceanic feminisms, digital humanities, and environmental humanities.

• Education:
  • PhD in English, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
  • MA in Polynesian Religion, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
  • BA in Hawaiian Studies, Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Her recent projects include directing Ka Ipu o Lono, a Native Hawaiian Digital Humanities initiative, and co-developing Mana Mo'olelo, an online annotated bibliography of Hawaiian literature. She is affiliate faculty with the Center for Pacific Island Studies and the Indigenous Politics Program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Her scholarship explores intersections of Indigenous knowledge systems, digital media, and decolonial praxis. She is a founding Chief Editor of ‘Ōiwi: A Native Hawaiian Journal and co-founder of the Hawaiian literature blog Mōʻōmoʻo Press with Dr. Marie Alohalani Brown.

• Awards & Fellowships:
  • MLA Honorable Mention for Native American Literatures (2016)
  • Frances Davis Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching (2012)
  • Mellon Hawaiʻi Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2010)
  • Ford Foundation Fellow (2001-2005)

Her forthcoming work includes coedited volumes on Pasifika performance and Pacific literatures, alongside ongoing contributions to Indigenous digital archiving, curriculum development for Hawaiian language immersion programs, and critical analyses of Aloha ʻĀina activism through literary lenses.