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Kawai Strong Washburn

Biography

Kawai Strong Washburn

Kawai Strong Washburn was born and raised on the Hamakua coast of the Big Island of Hawai‘i. His work has appeared in Best American Nonrequired Reading, McSweeney’s and Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading, among other outlets. He was a 2015 Tin House Summer Scholar and 2015 Bread Loaf work-study scholar. Today, he lives with his wife and daughters in Minneapolis. SHARKS IN THE TIME OF SAVIORS is his first novel.

Kawai Strong Washburn

Books by Kawai Strong Washburn

Sharks in the Time of Saviors
by Kawai Strong Washburn - Fiction

In 1995 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on a rare family vacation, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls overboard a cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean. When a shiver of sharks appears in the water, everyone fears the worst. But instead, Noa is gingerly delivered to his mother in the jaws of a shark. Nainoa’s family, struggling amidst the collapse of the sugarcane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favor from ancient Hawaiian gods --- a belief that appears validated after he exhibits puzzling new abilities. But as time passes, this supposed divine favor begins to drive the family apart. When supernatural events revisit the Flores family in Hawaii --- with tragic consequences --- they are all forced to reckon with the bonds of family, the meaning of heritage and the cost of survival.