Stargazing guide for Sept/Oct 2026 featuring planetary alignments, the Hawaiian starline of Kalupeokawelo, and groundbreaking solar discoveries from Maui's Haleakalā telescope.

Drew Foster reviews Willy Vlautin’s latest novel, The Left and the Lucky, exploring its blue-collar characters, Portland setting, and the unique bond between a housepainter and his young neighbor.

Lifelong Kaʻū resident Homer Hashimoto shares memories of growing up in Pāhala, a 40-year career working local plantations and ranches, raising a family, and staying connected to his community.

This issue's Kaʻū Mele offering, "A Hundred Years Ago" by John Harn, reflects on the unseen history of Sugar Mill Road. The poem explores the legacy of plantation life, the echoes of immigrant crews, and the enduring resilience of the land.

The 7th annual Experience Volcano Festival brought art, music, and cultural demonstrations to Volcano village with performances by Wendell Ing and Puna Taiko, lauhala weaving, and local vendors.

In the debut installment of ʻIke Kūpuna Kaʻū, Kapāpala Ranch native Paulette Ke reflects on her childhood on the ranch, her journey to Kansas and back, working at Nāʻālehu Dairy, and the vital role of kūpuna in preserving community wisdom.

Drew Foster reviews Daniel Kraus’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "Angel Down," a visceral, single-sentence World War I speculative story that challenges readers to examine the numbing horrors of war.

Read “Kaʻū Mele: The Active Present,” a thoughtful new poem by Stephanie Ansley reflecting on mindfulness, listening, the balance of nature, and the inner search for wisdom.

Explore the summer skies above Kaʻū with astronomer Christopher Phillips. From an August six-planet morning parade and traditional Hawaiian starlines like Mānaiakalani to shifting supernova remnants in the Southern Pinwheel galaxy, discover the beauty and science of our night sky.

Alexander Kalauokalani Peʻa reflects on how the 1897 Kūʻē Petitions serve as a genealogical bridge to Hawaiian history, demonstrating national unity and reconnecting ʻohana to their ancestral roots and identity.

A Kaʻū Mele feature showcasing the poem "The View of the World Depends on Where You Stand," reflecting on perspective, natural beauty, and the quiet magic of a rare snowfall.

Drew Foster reviews Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares’ sobering new nonfiction work on artificial superintelligence and the existential choices facing humanity.

Drew Foster reviews Gary Shteyngart’s newest novel, “Vera, or Faith,” a humorous, cutting depiction of a near-future, totalitarian-leaning America observed through the eyes of a precocious youngster trying to make sense of a rapidly changing society.

Review of the 1958 classic "The Polynesian Family System in Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi." This essential work by E.S. Craighill Handy and Mary Kawena Pukui provides a profound window into ancestral Hawaiian worldviews and traditional customs of the Kaʻū district.

Raylene Auliʻi Moses is hoping to start a Hawaiian immersion school in Kaʻū this fall. The family program in Waiʻōhinu focuses on Hawaiian language, culture, and ʻāina. Organizers hope to establish a charter school to restore vital Hawaiian studies.

The 16th Annual Kaʻū Coffee Festival was a success, culminating in a Ho’olaule’a in Pāhala with cultural performances. The 7-day event, coordinated by Kaʻū Coffee Growers Cooperative, celebrated local growers and the area's rich agricultural history.

Percival Everett's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "James," reimagines Huckleberry Finn from the slave's perspective. It explores language as power and survival, though the reviewer questions the ending's violence.

This review of Suzanne Collins's prequel, "Sunrise on the Reaping," follows Haymitch Abernathy's Hunger Games victory. It praises the social commentary but notes a lack of suspense and thin characterization.