Acclaimed Poet and Hawai'i Scholar Jamaica Osorio
Ƶ's Visiting Writer's Series presents Dr. Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, a three-time national poetry champion and internationally acclaimed author.
Time: 7:00pm on Thursday, April 16, 2026
Location: Marsh Hall Auditorium (Room 216) on the Forest Grove Campus
A Kānaka Maoli wahine artist and activist, Jamaica Osorio 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. She is a proud past Kaiāpuni student, Ford fellow, and a graduate of Kamehameha Schools, Stanford University (BA), and New York University (MA).
Her book was published by the University of Minnesota Press. She is a featured author in a collection of poets of Hawai'i edited by Malia Guerrero and published by New Ground Books at Ƶ Press.
Aloha is the way I say:
I've pulled mountains out of the sea
to bring forth the world you deserve.
--Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio
This lecture is free and open to the public. Books will be for sale at the event.
Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio is a leader in the newest generation of Indigenous scholars articulating what it means to be Indigenous (in her case, Kanaka—Hawaiian) in the contemporary world.
--Michael David Kaulana Ing
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Sponsored by the Ƶ Visiting Writers Series, the College of Undergraduate Studies, the Departments of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice, the Office of Strategic Initiatives, and the Ƶ Press.
All events are listed in Pacific time zone unless otherwise noted.