Gary Pak (born 1952) is a writer, editor and professor of English at

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. Pak has been noted as one of the most important Asian Hawaiian writers.

Biography

Gary Pak was born and raised in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. Pak graduated from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

with a BA and from

with an MA and a PhD. Growing up in Hawaii, Pak said his first language is

Pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from s ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. "My culture is from Hawaii; my parents’ and grandparents’ generations helped create that culture", he said during an interview with the Magazine of the University of Hawaii. Some of Pak's novels are based on the true stories from his family. His grandparents fled from

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and came to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

; in 1905, his grandmother worked on a

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

at Hawaii. His novel ''A Ricepaper Airplane'' is based on an incident related with his mum in the setting of a sugarcane plantation. In his short story collection ''Language of the Geckos and Other Stories'', Pak's memorable portraits of Hawai'i's Korean Americans, Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, and Native Hawaiians increases cross-cultural understanding of Hawaiian life and culture. Pak was also the producer, play writer and editor of the Olelo Community TV series, ''Plantation Children: 2nd-generation Koreans in Hawai'i''. Pak was a recipient of

Fulbright Fellow The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

Selected works

Short stories

* "Hae Soon’s Song", appeared in New Press’ anthology * "Crossing Into America: The New Literature of Immigration"

Books

* ''The Watcher of Waipuna'', Bamboo Ridge Press, 1992 * ''A Ricepaper Airplane'', University of Hawaii Press, 1998 * ''Children of a Fireland'', University of Hawaii Press, 2004 * ''Language of the Geckos and Other Stories'', University of Washington Press, 2005

Plays

* ''Beyond the Falls'' (children's play) * ''Plantation Children: 2nd-generation Koreans in Hawaii'' (TV series)

Selected awards

* 1992 Elliot Cades Award for ''The Watcher of Waipuna'' * 2004 Honorable Mention in the Association for Asian American Studies' Book Award in Prose and Poetry for ''Children of a Fireland''

References

External links

creative writing program at University of Hawaii
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pak, Gary Living people Novelists from Hawaii American writers of Korean descent American educators American academics of English literature American academics of Korean descent University of Hawaiʻi alumni Boston University alumni 1952 births American short story writers American novelists of Asian descent American short story writers of Asian descent American male novelists American male short story writers American male non-fiction writers Fulbright alumni