{"id":108439,"date":"2019-12-30T16:02:01","date_gmt":"2019-12-31T02:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=108439"},"modified":"2019-12-30T16:02:01","modified_gmt":"2019-12-31T02:02:01","slug":"shaffer-ka-palapala-pookela-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2019\/12\/30\/shaffer-ka-palapala-pookela-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Honolulu CC<\/abbr> professor earns literary award"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Eric Paul Shaffer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A language arts associate professor from Honolulu Community College<\/a> garnered an award at the 2019 Ka Palapala Poʻokela<\/span> Book Awards.<\/p>\n

Eric Paul Shaffer<\/strong>\u2019s seventh volume of poetry, Even Further West<\/em>, received honorable mention in the “Aloha from Across the Sea” category. The awards recognize work published in 2017 and 2018, and are administered by the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Book Publishers Association. A total of 71 entries from 54 separate book projects were nominated in 11 categories.<\/p>\n

“These poems are of a singular consciousness attending to the life around him with mindfulness and unsentimental appreciation,” said one of the three judges. “A master craftsman, Eric Paul Shaffer can turn the stuff of everyday Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> life into the liturgy of our Island soul. His dedication to ‘making it new’ and even-tempered outlook offers the reader a crystal-clear view of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> landscapes and perspectives.”<\/p>\n

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Eric Paul Shaffer with Ron Cox, President of the Hawaii Book Publishers Association<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“I am a great proponent of place-based education, and the poems of Even Further West<\/em> focus exclusively on Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> as a means of exploring our place and grounding myself in the islands,” said Shaffer. “In the classroom, with place-based education, I interweave Hawaiian culture and language and themes of sustainability in a three-pronged approach to learning and teaching our students about where we are and how that affects who we are.”<\/p>\n

Shaffer has authored seven collections of poetry and one novel, Burn & Learn: Memoirs of the Cenozic Era<\/em> (2009). His work has appeared in more than 500 national and international reviews, journals and magazines and have earned multiple awards.<\/p>\n

Interim Chancellor Karen Lee<\/strong> said, “We are proud of Dr. Shaffer for this well-deserved recognition. He represents one of the many highly talented faculty at Honolulu Community College who provide students with an engaging learning environment where they can thrive.”<\/p>\n

Other Honolulu Community College faculty have received Ka Palapala Poʻokela<\/span> Book Awards in previous years. Associate Professor Brenda Kwon<\/strong> won honorable mention for The Sum of Breathing<\/em> in the “Literature” category in 2015. Assistant Professor Chris McKinney<\/strong> won the Award of Excellence twice for the Red-Headed Hawaiian<\/em> in 2015 and Boi No Good<\/em> in 2013.<\/p>\n

All Ka Palapala Poʻokela<\/span> Book Award winners can be viewed at the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Publishers website.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eric Paul Shaffer was recognized for his poetry collection, Even Further West<\/em>, at the 2019 Ka Palapala Poʻokela<\/span> Book Awards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[142,598,62,512],"class_list":["post-108439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-award","tag-faculty-recognition","tag-honolulu-community-college","tag-language-arts-division","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t