Blog Entry
Todd Shimoda wins Hawaii's top literary award
Chin Music Press
April 12, 2011

Authors Todd Shimoda and Alexei Melnick have been named this year’s winners of the Elliott Cades Awards for Literature, the most prestigious literary awards in Hawai‘i.

The nonprofit Hawai‘i Literary Arts Council, which is charged with hosting the awards program, selected Shimoda to be the recipient of the award for an established artist. Melnick was named the winner of the award for an emerging artist.

Shimoda’s three novels explore the boundaries of human existence primarily through Japanese aesthetics and psychology: Oh! A Mystery of “Mono no Aware” (Chin Music Press), The Fourth Treasure (Nan Talese/Doubleday), and 365 Views of Mt. Fuji (Stone Bridge Press). The books have been translated into six languages. The Fourth Treasure was listed as a notable book by the Kiriyama Prize. Oh! was selected as an NPR best summer read. Shimoda’s next novel, Subduction, will be published in the spring of 2012. He blogs about writing at shimodaworks.com, and his book reviews are found at the Asian Review of Books. He and his wife, Linda, who creates art for the novels, live on Kaua‘i.

Melnick’s novel, Tweakerville, was published last year and received critical acclaim for its power, heart and tactile storytelling of life in Hawai‘i’s world of crystal meth. His writing has received awards and recognition from Honolulu Magazine, The Honolulu Advertiser, The Star Advertiser, Bamboo Ridge Press, Hawai‘i Review, Mutual Publications and the radio program Aloha Shorts. He also has a professional background in business/vocational writing, accounting and golf course management.

Shimoda and Melnick will receive their awards and read from their works at a special ceremony on Saturday, May 14 in the Mission Auditorium, at the sixth annual Hawai‘i Book & Music Festival on the grounds of Honolulu Hale.

The Cades Awards, given annually since 1988, were created by Charlotte and J. Russell Cades in memory of Russell’s brother, Elliott, a teacher and lover of literature.

The Hawai‘i Literary Arts Council was founded in 1974 to encourage and promote literature and literary activity of all sorts in Hawai‘i. Since then, almost every literary activity in Hawai‘i – poetry and fiction readings, workshops, conferences, seminars – involving local and visiting writers, has been sponsored, co-sponsored, or promoted by the Council, which is funded primarily by the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

Hawai‘i Literary Arts Council
Box 11213
Honolulu, HI 96828-0213

Serving Hawai‘i’s literary community since 1974
For more information: Mike Leidemann, 227-5922

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Adrielle
Congratulations Todd, I loved Oh!