Celebrating Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Month

I am grateful to be a part of the lists celebrating the authors of our communities. It’s really difficult to get recognition as a Native Hawaiian writer, even within my own community, since I don’t live in Hawai’i anymore, so to see Bitter Over Sweet included makes me extremely thankful.

Here are two places that I would like to mention:

• CLMP’s A Reading List for Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month 2026

• Celebrate AANHPI Month with These Can’t-Miss New (and Forthcoming!) Titles by Da Shop: Books + Curiosities in Honolulu Magazine

  “Winner of the Santa Fe Writers Program 2023 Literary Award, Bitter Over Sweet is an engrossing collection of flash fiction by Melissa Llanes Brownlee, a Native Hawaiian writer living in Japan. Just under 150 pages of linked vignettes convey the unforgettable story of Tita, an ‘Ōiwi wahine endeavoring to make a life in a homeland overtaken by tourism. Brownlee’s voice is especially captivating in these flash stories, and we couldn’t stop reading this collection by a powerful new voice in fiction.”

I have also seen Bitter Over Sweet on a few Instagram reels being celebrated with other amazing writers. I hope that you check out the books in the lists I have posted and support some of my fellow writers!!

I hope that where ever you are that you are taking care of yourselves and the ones you love. Sending light, love, and creativity.