RECENT AWARDS
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL AWARDS
PAUL & DAISY SOROS FELLOWSHIP
2019-20: Diana Delgado-Cornejo
FULBRIGHT SCHOLARSHIP
2019-2020: Leora Kava (Tonga)
2018-2020: Chia-hua Lin (UHM)
SOUTHWEST POPULAR AND AMERICAN CULTURE ASSOCIATION,
HISTORIC AND CONTEMPORARY CULTURES GRADUATE STUDENT PAPER AWARD
2020: Zoë Sprott
PACIFIC ANCIENT AND MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION (PAMLA) GRADUATE STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP
2018: Avree Ito-Fujita
FORD FOUNDATION FELLOWSHIP
2017: Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, Ford Dissertation Fellow
2015: Kim Compoc, Honorable Mention
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE FANTASTIC IN THE ARTS (IAFA)
2017 WALTER JAMES MILLER MEMORIAL AWARD FOR STUDENT SCHOLARSHIP IN THE INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC
2017: Ida Yoshinaga
R.D. MULLEN PH.D. RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP. CENTER FOR RAY BRADBURY STUDIES, INDIANA UNIVERSITY-PURDUE UNIVERSITY AT INDIANAPOLIS. 2017.
2017: Ida Yoshinaga
INTERNATIONAL WRITING CENTER ASSOCIATION TRAVEL AWARD
2017: Avree Ito-Fujita
CGS PROQUEST DISTINGUISHED DISSERTATION AWARD
Nomination 2017: Compoc, Kim
Nomination 2017: Mohabir, Rajiv
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN AMERICAN DISSERTATION FELLOWSHIP
2016: Kim Compoc
VIETNAM INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT SCHOLARSHIP
2015-2019: Quynh Vo
CHAMINADE UNIVERSITY INTERNAL AWARD
2016: Koreen Nakahodo, Fellowship for Writing Across the Curriculum ($2500.00)
YOUTH VOICES ON CHINA VIDEOGRAM TO THE WHITE HOUSE: NATIONAL FINALIST AND BEST OF HAWAI‘I AWARD, THE 1990 INSTITUTE
2016: Avree Ito-Fujita
STUDENT FILM CATEGORY: SILVER LEI AWARD, HONOLULU FILM AWARDS
2016: Avree Ito-Fujita
ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES ASSESSMENT
2016: VALUE project national scorer: Amanda Christie
PEN/HEIM TRANSLATION GRANT
2015: Rajiv Mohabir for his translations of the 1916 collection of folk songs called Holi Songs of Demerara by indentured Indo-Caribbean writer Lalbihari Sharma.
NATIONAL & HAWAI‘I CREATIVE WRITING AWARDS
WARD LITERARY JOURNAL, EDITOR’S CHOICE AWARD IN POETRY
2020: Kristina Togafau
THE YOUNG WRITERS OF HAWAI‘I
2020: Micah Lau
DRIFTLESS UNSOLICITED NOVELLA CONTEST, BRAIN MILL PRESS.
2019: Tani Loo
PUSHCART PRIZE NOMINATION
2018: Joseph Han
2ND PLACE, CIVIL BEAT’S EMERGING WRITERS CONTEST
2018: Tani Loo
Māhealani Dudoit GRADUATE RESIDENCY FROM HAWAIʻIREVIEW
2018: Leilani Portillo
SCHOLARSHIP FOR CAMP Mokuleʻia WRITER’S RETREAT
2018: Leilani Portillo
GLIMMER TRAIN’S SHORT STORY AWARD
2017: Rain Wright, Honorable Mention
BUTTON POETRY CHAPBOOK CONTEST.
2017: Lynley-Shimat Lys, Semifinalist
ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POET’S HAROLD TAYLOR PRIZE IN POETRY:
2016: Julia Wieting “Place Names,” https://www.poets.org/academy-american-poets/harold-taylor-prize-2016.
OMNIDAWN 1ST POETRY BOOK PRIZE
2016: Henry Wei Leung
MAUREEN EGEN WRITERS EXCHANGE AWARD
2016 First Runner-up in Poetry: Donovan Kūhiō Colleps
SAWTOOTH POETRY PRIZE
2016 Finalist: Lyz Soto’s “Translate Sun/Son/Sum.”
BAMBOO RIDGE EDITORS’ CHOICE AWARDS
2016 Best New Writer: Kapena Landgraf
2015 Best New Writer: Joseph Han
2015 Best Poetry: Rajiv Mohabir
KUNDIMAN POETRY PRIZE
2015: Rajiv Mohabir for his manuscript “The Cowherd’s Son.” Sponsored by Tupelo Press, the Kundiman Poetry Prize is dedicated to publishing exceptional work by Asian American poets.
AWP INTRO JOURNAL AWARD
2015: Rajiv Mohabir for “Ancestor” judged by Philip Metres.
BEST AMERICAN POETRY
2015: Rajiv Mohabir for “Dove” selected by Sherman Alexie.
UHM AWARDS & HONORS
CENTER FOR KOREAN STUDIES CORE UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP
2020: Bora Hah
2019: Bora Hah
LLL DOCTORAL DISSERTATION RESEARCH AWARD
2019: Vera Lee
2018: Raindrop Wright
2017: Michael Pak
2016 (inaugural award): Kim Compoc
FRANCES DAVIS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN UNDERGRADUATE TEACHING FOR GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANTS:
2018: Raindrop Wright
JOHN YOUNG AWARD IN THE ARTS
Spring 2019: Vera Lee
Spring 2017: Henry Leung, Elizabeth Soto
Spring 2016: Joseph Han, Abbey Mayer
Spring 2015: Kapena Landgraf, Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, No‘ukahau‘oli Revilla
Spring 2014: Donovan Kūhiō Colleps, Anjoli Roy
VIET THANH NGUYEN WRITING CONTEST
Bora Hah, runner-up for graduate division, Fall 2019.
THE RED MANDARIN AND LADY YI-SUEN SHEN SCHOLARSHIP
2020-21: Kayla Watabu
2019-20: Zoë Sprott
2018-19: Sean Brown-Hussey
2017-18: Thai Luong
2016-17: Perry Buto
2015-2016: Wyatt Souza
2014-2015: Jason Jayaprakash
ELIZABETH MCCUTCHEON ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP
FOR LITERARY STUDIES
2019-20: Christina Lee
2018-19: Tani Loo, Brittany Winland
2017-18: Erin Cheslow, Aaron Kiʻilau
2016-17: Veronica Freeman, Kalei Wang
2015-16: Samantha Ikehara
2014-15 (inaugural award): Chase Wiggins
THE BIOGAPHY PRIZE
2020: Amy Carlson & Aiko Yamashiro, each for a chapter of their dissertations.
2019 PhD winner: No‘ukahau‘oli Revilla, “If We Vanish” A Collection of Queer ‘Ōiwi Poetry”
2019 PhD winner: Lyz Soto, “About Homelands Speaking/Her Bodies of Stories”
(both dissertations directed by Craig S. Perez)
2018 MA winner: Rachel Reeves, “Holes in the Net,” an MA thesis directed by Rodney Morales
2017 PhD winner: Kim Compoc for “Weaving Our Sovereignties Together,” a chapter from her dissertation, “Emergent Allies: Decolonizing HawaiʻI from a Filipinx Perspective”
2016 MA winner: Nicole Kurashige for “Becoming Batman: Postmodern Graphic Memoir, Dean Trippe’s Something Terrible, and the Subversion of Dominant Narratives of Suffering.”
2015 PhD co-winners:
Marie Alohalani Brown for “Facing the Spears of Change: The Life and Legacy of Ioane Kaneiakama Papa ‘Ī‘Ī,” her PhD Dissertation in English.
Tiffany L. Ing for “Ka Ho‘omālamalama ‘Ana i nā Hō‘ailona o ka Mō‘ī Kalākaua a me Kona Noho Ali‘i ‘Ana: Illuminating the American, International, and Hawai‘i Representations of David Kalākaua and his Reign, 1874–1891,” her PhD Dissertation in English.
MA winner: Joseph Han, for his collection of poems, Customs
OUTSTANDING STUDENT WRITING IN COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC AWARDS:
2019: Nicole Kurashige
2018: (inaugural award) Nicole Kurashige
JAMES W. AND ELEANOR B. FRIERSON SCHOLARSHIP:
2018: Stephanie Robertson
GRACE K. J. ABERNETHY SCHOLARSHIP FOR INCOMING MA
2020: Hillary Stratton
2019: Micah Lau
2018: (inaugural award) Tani Loo
HENRY E. RENTERIA SCHOLARSHIP
2016: Kim Compoc
ARTHUR & BEATRICE HARRIS ENDOWMENT FOR GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS
2016: Kim Compoc
HAWAIʻI VETERANS MEMORIAL FUND
2016: Kim Compoc
AMOS AND EDNA LEIB MEMORIAL FELLOWSHIP FOR THE GRADUATE STUDY OF PACIFIC LITERATURE (available for 4 years, 2012-15, only)
2015: Aiko Yamashiro
2014: Tagi Qolouvaki
2013: Steven Gin
2012: Bryan Kamaoli Kuwada
WATUMULL SCHOLARSHIP FOR THE STUDY OF INDIA
Summer 2014: Anjoli Roy
JAGDISH SHARMA MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FOR THE STUDY OF SOUTH ASIA
2014-2015: Rajiv Mohabir
OFFICE OF STUDENT AFFAIRS FELLOWSHIP
2014-2015: Nicole Kurashige
LLL GRADUATE STUDENT MARSHAL
2018: Rachel Reeves
2016: Chase Wiggins
UHM CREATIVE WRITING AWARDS
THE ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS PRIZE
Spring 2020: Micah Lau
Spring 2019: Amalia Bueno
Spring 2016: Julia Wieting
Spring 2016: Honorable Mention: Henry Leung, No’u Revilla, Bryn Villers
Spring 2015: Joseph Han
Spring 2015: Second Place, Jessie Lathrop
Spring 2014: Rajiv Mohabir
GRACE K. J. ABERNETHY AWARD
Spring 2020: Hillary Stratton
Spring 2019: Bora Hah, Brittany Winland
Spring 2018: Liam Bissen, Paulina Harrison
Spring 2016: Kristina Togafau, Samantha Ikehara
Spring 2015: Abbey Mayer
Spring 2014: Christie Pang
THE PATSY SUMIE SAIKI AWARD
Spring 2020: Briana Uu, First Place
Spring 2019: Tani Loo, First Place; Amalia Bueno, Second Place; Amanda Silliman, Third Place
Spring 2018: Jeffery Long, First Place; Amanda Silliman, Second Place; Kapena Landgraf, Third Place
Spring 2017: Jeffery Long, First Place; Bryan Kamaoli Kuwada, Second Place; Kapena Landgraf, Third Place
Spring 2016: Brooke Jones, First Place; Kapena Landgraf, Second Place; Rain Wright, Third Place
Spring 2015: Kapena Landgraf, First Place; David Scrivner, Second Place
Spring 2014: Donovan Kūhiō Colleps and Joseph Han
THE MYRTLE CLARK AWARDS
Spring 2017 and 2016: (undergraduates only)
Spring 2015: Samantha Ikehara, Jessie Lathrop, Brian Lieu, Justin Koelkebeck
Spring 2014: David Scrivner
THE STEPHEN C & WILLIAM H. STRYKER AWARD FOR FICTION
Spring 2020: Christina Lee
Spring 2019: Brittany Winland
Spring 2018: Jeffery Long
Spring 2017: Joseph Han
Spring 2016: Rain Wright
Spring 2015: Crystel Sundberg-Yannell
Spring 2015: Joseph Han, Honorable Mention
ROBBIE SHAPARD SHORT-SHORT STORY AWARD
2019: Paulina Harrison, First Place
IAN MACMILLAN AWARD IN FICTION
2016: Jeffrey Long, Second Place; Samantha Ikehara, Third Place
2015: Abbey Mayer, First Place
IAN MACMILLAN AWARD IN CREATIVE NON-FICTION
2016: Anjoli Roy, Third Place
2015: Rain Wright, Second Place
HAWAIʻI REVIEW STUDENT OF THE MONTH
2016: ‘Iolani Antonio
RESEARCH AWARDS, TRAVEL AWARDS TO CONFERENCES (UHF GRADUATE TRAVEL FUND, YUN T. CHEN TU STUDENT TRAVEL ENDOWMENT, ALAN MACGREGOR TRAVEL SCHOLARSHIP, LLL SPECIAL FUNDS, SSHRC)
Spring 2020: Māhealani Ahia, Pono Fernandez, Christie Honore, Aaron Kiʻilau, So Yeon Kim, Jordan Luz, Novelynn Rubsamen, Zoë Sprott, Kristina Togafau, Amy Vegas
Spring 2019: Māhea Ahia, Alex Casey, Erin Cheslow, Lane Davey, Maria Karaan, So Yeon Kim, Noʻu Revilla, Mariah St. John, Norman Thompson, Cynthia Tsai
Spring 2018: Lane Davey, Janet Graham, Joseph Han, Sashily Kling, Caryn Lesuma, Michael Pak, Ida Yoshinaga
Spring 2017: (including WRITING CENTER AWARDS AND LLL-SSHRC AWARDS): Kelsey Amos, ʻIolani antonio, Joseph Han, Steven Holmes, Samantha Ikehara, Avree Ito-Fujita, Scott Kaʻalele, Nicole Kurashige, Eddie Lee, Caryn Lesuma, Rajiv Mohabir, Lauren Nishimura, Mike Pak, Noʻu Revilla, Hannah Spencer, Kristina Togafau, Isaac Wang, Ida Yoshinaga
Spring 2016: Kim Compoc, Steven Gin, Brittney Holt, Kapena Landgraf, Rajiv Mohabir, Anjoli Roy, Novelyn Rubsamen, Lisa Shea, Chase Wiggins.
Spring 2015: Kelsey Amos, Amanda Christie, Kim Compoc, Steven Gin, Steven Holmes, Edward Lee, Rajiv Mohabir, Madoka Nagado, Jamaica Osorio, Michael Pak, Christie Pang, No‘ukahau‘oli Revilla, Cornelius Rubsamen.
Spring 2014: Keala Dickhens, Steven Gin, Steven Holmes, Bryan Kuwada, Edward Lee, Madoka Nagado, Cheryl Naruse, Michael Pak, Tagi Qolouvaki, No‘ukahau‘oli Revilla, Anjoli Roy, Eric San George, Lisa Shea, Cody White, Aiko Yamashiro, Yi Zhang.