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✍️ Local Author Spotlight: Lahua Parker

Photo Courtesy of Author
Photo Courtesy of Author

Lehua Parker is a massive talent and a truly influential figure in the regional community. Originally from Hawaiʻi, she now lives right here in the high desert mountains of Utah. She is a brilliant advocate for indigenous representation, an educator, and a master of speculative fiction and magical realism deeply rooted in Hawaiian culture and folklore.  

Here is a beautiful, scannable spotlight draft to capture her unique voice:

Quick Reference


💻 Author Hub: lehuaparker.com  

📚 Featured Worlds: The Niuhi Shark Saga, Lauele Fractured Folktales, & Chicken Skin Stories  

📚 Focus Genres: Speculative Fiction, Magical Realism, Hawaiian Gothic/Horror, & Young Adult/Middle Grade

📍 Regional Connection: High Desert Mountains, Utah / Graduate of The Kamehameha Schools


About the Author

Lehua Parker is an award-winning Kanaka Maoli author, educator, and public speaker whose powerful storytelling explores the past, present, and future of her native Hawaiʻi. Originally from Honolulu and a graduate of the prestigious Kamehameha Schools, Lehua now lives and writes in exile in the Rocky Mountains of Utah—frequently dreaming of the beach during the snowy desert winters.  

Trained in literary criticism, Lehua is a fierce advocate for authentic indigenous representation in media. She dedicates much of her time to mentoring the next generation of storytellers through the Lehua Writing Academy and PEAU Lit, and she is a highly sought-after panelist and speaker at conferences, schools, and literary festivals across the country. When a project captures her imagination, she also lends her expertise as a professional freelance editor and story consultant.  


🏛️ Exploring the Lauele Universe

Lehua’s deeply immersive catalog brilliantly interweaves contemporary Hawaiian life, Pacific literature, and ancient mysticism, creating what readers fondly celebrate as a vibrant, magical realism landscape:

  • The Niuhi Shark Saga (MG/YA Magical Realism): Her landmark trilogy—consisting of One Boy, No Water, One Shark, No Swim, and One Truth, No Lie—follows Zader, a boy who is inexplicably allergic to water growing up in contemporary Hawaiʻi. This poignant coming-of-age story expertly tackles themes of adoption, identity, and belonging, untangling a deep cultural secret that challenges everything Zader knows about himself.  

  • Lauele Fractured Folktales (Contemporary Fantasy): A series of loosely connected standalone romances and stories that take the world's oldest, most beloved fairy tales and reimagine them with a distinct, brilliant Hawaiian twist, as seen in Pua's Kiss and Rell's Kiss.  

  • Short Stories & "Chicken Skin" Horror: Lehua is a master of the short form, with chilling and speculative pieces featured in renowned regional anthologies. Her collected speculative fiction can be found in her volume Sharks in an Inland Sea, exploring the deeper, darker corners of island lore and contemporary Pacific experiences.  


✒️ Connect with Lehua

An absolute inspiration for worldbuilders, cultural consultants, and anyone passionate about representation in speculative fiction, Lehua is an incredibly insightful peer to learn from in our regional community.


 
 
 

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