Lee A. Tonouchi

Lee A. Tonouchi (“Da Pidgin Guerrilla”) is an Okinawan Yonsei poet born in Honolulu and raised in Kaimukī and ‘Aiea, Hawai‘i. He graduated from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa with an MA in English with an emphasis in creative writing. 

Tonouchi, known for writing in Hawai‘i Creole (Pidgin), is the author of Significant Moments in da Life of Oriental Faddah and Son: One Hawai‘i Okinawan Journal (Bess Press, 2011), winner of the 2013 Poetry/Prose Book Award from the Association for Asian American Studies. 

Tonouchi is also the author of the Pidgin short story collection Da Word (Bamboo Ridge Press, 2001), winner of the Ka Palapala Po‘okela Award from the Hawai‘i Book Publishers Association. His children’s picture book, Okinawan Princess: Da Legend of Hajichi Tattoos (Bess Press, 2019), won the Skipping Stones Honor Award. He has also had several Pidgin plays produced by Kumu Kahua Theatre, Hawai‘i Conservatory of Performing Arts, and Honolulu Theatre for Youth. His play, Three Year Swim Club, was a Los Angeles Times Critic’s Choice Selection. 

In 2023, the American Association for Applied Linguistics recognized Tonouchi for his activism with a Distinguished Public Service Award for his work in raising public awareness of language-related issues and promoting linguistic social justice, particularly the importance of including Pidgin in academic and creative writing. In 2026, he was appointed the poet laureate of Hawai‘i through 2029.