Acclaimed Poet and Hawai'i Scholar Jamaica Osorio to Lecture at Pacific University
- Mar 12
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 16
Dr. Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio is a three-time national poetry champion and internationally acclaimed author. A Kānaka Maoli wahine artist and activist, she has a Ph.D. in English Hawaiian literature from the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, where she is now Associate Professor of Indigenous and Native Hawaiian Politics. Dr. Osorio is a proud past Kaiāpuni student, Ford fellow, and a graduate of Kamehameha Schools, Stanford University (BA), and New York University (MA). Her book Remembering our Intimacies: Moʻolelo, Aloha ʻĀina, was published by the University of Minnesota Press. She is a featured author in IMUA, Move Forward, a collection of poets of Hawai'i published by Pacific University Press.
Evening Reading & Presentation
7:00pm
Thursday, April 16
Marsh Hall Auditorium (Room 216)
Forest Grove Campus
Free to public. Books for sale at the event.
Dr. Osorio's work is featured in IMUA, Go Forward, a Pacific University/New Ground Book:
IMUA, Go Forward
With intimate stories, incisive truths, and finely wrought lines, Puanani Burgess, Jamaica Osorio, Kamanukea Kekoa, and N’ou Revilla honor their multi-generational ties to family and reclaim the language, land, and water that is their birthright. Artwork by Kanani Miyamoto infuses these pages.
This collection of poetry, edited by Malia Guerrero, is a letter of love to the young people of Hawai’i.
at night
i close the windows
i wrap her in a lei of blankets
i say her name
out loud
remind her that she is loved
safe
o wau no kou kia'i
I am your protector
i say
over and over until she will be ready to say it back
from "We Knew Were Liberated When We No Longer Feared for Our Daughters"
--Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio
More about Dr. Jamaica Osorio on the American Academy of Poets site.
This event is sponsored by the Pacific University Visiting Writers Series, the College of Undergraduate Studies, the Departments of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice, Office of Strategic Initiatives, and the Pacific University Press.
Learn more about Pacific University.
