Author, literary fiction
Ryka Aoki is the author of He Mele A Hilo (A Hilo Song), out August 26th from Topside Press. Robert Morgan (Gap Creek) calls it, “A debut novel unlike any you have ever read.” Maureen McCoy, (Junebug, Walking After Midnight) extols, “Threading myth, music and wonder through the lives of a small community of contemporary Hilo characters, Ryka Aoki here presents a charming world unique and important to American letters.” A writer, performer, musician, and educator, Ryka’s work is featured in Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation and Tranfeminist Perspectives. She has been honored by the California State Senate for her “extraordinary commitment to free speech and artistic expression, as well as the visibility and well-being of Transgender people.” Ryka has an MFA in Creative Writing from Cornell University and a University Award from the Academy of American Poets. Her chapbook, Sometimes Too Hot the Eye of Heaven Shines, won the RADAR’s 2010 Eli Coppola Chapbook Contest. And her first full-length volume, Seasonal Velocities, was released in 2012 by Trans-Genre Press.
Workshops & Events:
- Dialect in Dialogue: Striking the Right Chord
- Special Guest Speaker