.Writers.on.Writing.
Get to know our authors, the foundation and heart of Yellow Arrow Journal, and what writing means to them through our monthly series.
W.o.W. #74
Kalehua kim
Describe an early experience where you learned that language has power.
While taking hula classes as a young child, I felt a great connection to the chants and songs my teacher sang. It helped me find a specific rhythm in my body as I danced. I believe those rhythms are present in my writing as well.
How did you first publish your writing and what was it?
In high school I entered the Young Authors competition where we had to physically bind the stories we submitted. That meant I typed up each page, asked a friend to illustrate it, and then made a cover out of cardboard that my mother helped me cover with fabric and scraps of old shelf paper liner that we assembled around the pages. I don’t remember the name of the story, but there was a mythical element involved. I didn’t win, but it taught me a lot about storytelling and its packaging.
What does your inner writing voice tell you?
Stay open. Listen.
What is essential for good storytelling? What types of stories do you find yourself driving inspiration from and how do they manifest in your work?
I think good storytelling stems from some kind of truth, whether it’s a core value or experience. Having your speaker or character question that truth or work within the complications of that truth can draw in a reader. I like stories that push expectations. What might start as something simple often becomes fraught as the protagonist grapples with it, and then we, too, are confronted with how we might act in a similar situation. I am inspired by characters that question themselves with a true desire to gain greater understanding of themselves and the world. In my work, that usually calls into question how I relate to my culture and upbringing (I am mixed Native Hawaiian and grew up both in Hawai’i and California) as I try to understand the liminal space I exist in as an Indigenous person and woman from mixed cultures living away from my birth land.
Kalehua Kim is a Native Hawaiian poet living in the Pacific Northwest. Her poems have appeared in Poetry Northwest, Denver Quarterly, and ‘Ōiwi, A Native Hawaiian Journal. Her first poetry collection, Mele, will be released on July 1. It can be ordered through Trio House Press at triohousepress.myshopify.com/products/pre-order-mele-by-kalehua-kim.
Yellow Arrow published Kim’s piece “There’s a trick with a pen I’m learning to do” in Yellow Arrow Journal, Vol. X, No. 1, UNFURL. You can find her online on Instagram @kalehuakim, Facebook @kalekim, BlueSky @kalekim.bsky.social, and at kalehuakim.com.