Lois-Ann Yamanaka is an American poet and novelist from Hawaii.
Many of her literary works are written in Hawaiian Pidgin. Also, some of her writing has dealt with controversial ethnic issues. She has done work that confronts themes of Asian American families and also the local culture of Hawaii.
Biography
Lois-Ann Yamanaka was born September 7, 1961 in Hoʻolehua on the island of Molokaʻi, Hawaiʻi. Her parents are named Harry and Jean Yamanaka. She was raised, together with her four younger sisters, in a sugarcane plantation town in Pahala on Hawaiʻi Island. She also graduated from Hilo High School in 1979.
Both of her parents were also school teachers. Later, her father became a taxidermist.
Both parents were school teachers, although her father later became a taxidermist. She followed in her parents’ footsteps and decided to study education. In 1983, she received a Bachelor’s Degree, and in 1987 she also received her Master’s Degree. Both degrees were in Education, and she studied at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.