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Kawai Strong Washburn

Kawai Strong Washburn was born and raised on the Hamakua coast of Hawai'i. He has worked in software and as a climate policy advocate. His short fiction has appeared in McSweeney's, Electric Literature and Best American Non-required Reading, among others.

Awards: PEN (2021)

Genres: Literary Fiction

New and upcoming books

October 2026

The Names of the New World

Novels

   Sharks in the Time of Saviours (2020)
     aka Sharks in the Time of Saviors
   The Names of the New World (2026)

Novellas and Short Stories

On the Swish and Roar (2016)

Series contributed to

Electric Literature's Recommended Reading
9 Stories About Competition (2018) (with others)

Books containing stories by Kawai Strong Washburn

The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2015 (2015)
(Best American Nonrequired Reading)
edited by
Adam Johnson

Awards

2021 PEN/Hemingway Award : Sharks in the Time of Saviours

Kawai Strong Washburn recommends

Hula (2023)
Jasmin 'Iolani Hakes
"A full-throated chant for Hawai'i. Part coming-of-age story, part historical family epic, all love. The pages fly by amidst fluid, furious language and captivating drama. This book breathes new life into island narratives...it's impossible to come away unchanged."

Welcome Me to the Kingdom (2023)
Mai Nardone
"A kaleidoscopic vision of Thailand as deep as it is broad. Muay Thai fighters, sex workers, family kitchens, territorial volunteer medics: If no one is saved, no one is exactly lost, either. In the precisely detailed lives of his characters, Nardone unearths real truths, both painful and uplifting, and with his singular prose leaves us wanting more."

Homestead (2023)
Melinda Moustakis
"I loved this book. The marriage is feral, the child-rearing frost-bitten, the betrayals and redemptions jagged as mountain peaks. In blazing, poetic prose, Moustakis brings 1950s Alaska roaring to life."

The Mountain in the Sea (2022)
Ray Nayler
"With a thriller heart and a sci-fi head, The Mountain in the Sea delivers a spooky smart read. Artificial intelligence, nascent animal sentience, murderous flying drones: like the best of Gibson or Atwood, it brings all of the plot without forgetting the bigger questions of consciousness, ecocide, and scientific progress. Truly a one-of-a-kind story."

The Ski Jumpers (2022)
Peter Geye
"Like its ski jumping protagonists, this family saga takes flight with a hammering heart and soars through questions of debt, failure, courage, and reconciliation. It's both distinctly Minnesotan and hugely humane...I was deeply moved."

When We Were Birds (2022)
Ayanna Lloyd Banwo
"Uplifting, engaging, expansive: this was just the book I needed. In a voice infused with the rhythms of Trinidad and Tobago, Banwo has crafted the perfect love story, one that moves with deftness between the furies of urban poverty and the gentle infinities of the afterlife. The hard-won peace and redemptive love in this story are real, and something we need more of in the world."

This Weightless World (2021)
Adam Soto
"What of our current moment is ephemeral, and what is part of some unstoppable machine? By starting with one of the big 'what ifs'--extraterrestrial contact--Adam Soto charts his own course in looking for the answer. At once utterly ambitious, moving, and intimate, This Weightless World stretches from domestic protests to centuries-distant planets, all while exploring the delicate hopes of its characters. I couldn't stop reading. The ending was unforgettable. I can't believe Soto pulled it off!"

Things We Lost to the Water (2021)
Eric Nguyen
"Nguyen's Things We Lost to the Water is a novel full of tenderness and courage. The family at its center hums with love and strength, and their journey to and within New Orleans brings a fresh perspective to that most iconic city. Nguyen will broaden the reader's understanding of migration, perseverance, and what it means to be American. This is exactly the sort of novel we need right now."

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