Craig Santos Perez
Matå’pang, Migration, and The Case of the Stolen Mangos
My favorite season is mango season. Two towering mango tress grew at my grandma’s house on the island of Guåhan. We patiently waited and watched the fruit turn from green, to yellow, to ripe red. I remember afternoons sitting around…
Refrigeration, The Pacific Body, and Other Perishables
Today, as I faced my refrigerator, I remember that distant afternoon when my father took me to discover ice. A super typhoon is about to hit Guam so the electricity is shut down. Dad drives us to the grocery store,…
Uncle Spam Wants You
The 11th annual Waikiki SPAM Jam, described as a “cultural tradition,” takes place this Saturday! There will be free food, entertainment, Hawaiian crafts, and a family-friendly atmosphere! Booths will be set up to collect donations of SPAM for the Hawaiʻi…
De-Colognizing the Body
My office is on the sixth floor of a building that has a single, unreliable elevator. I dread taking the elevator, not because I might get trapped inside (it has happened to me twice already), but because I fear being…
A Kite of Words for the Korean People
Whenever I hear the word “Korea,” I think about one of my favorite books: Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s Dictée (1982). Her poetics embody how colonialism has affected the history, culture, language, and identity of Korea. Dictée emerges from the ruins…
