Ethnic Studies Faculty and Students enjoy an evening with William Nu'utupu Giles

ES Faculty and Students enjoy a talk/slam poetry performance by William Nu'utupu Giles on October 26th

William Giles with Ethnic Studies faculty and students, October 2023 

The Ethnic Studies department Fall 2023 guest speaker was award-winning poet William Nu'utupu Giles, who presented a talk/slam poetry performance on October 26th in the ATL building. William is an afakasi Samoan writer, arts educator, and slam poetry award winner from Honolulu, Hawai'i.

Giles is an International Poetry Slam champion and a Kundiman fellow. Kundiman is a national organization that nurtures writers and readers of Asian American literature. Giles’ poems explore mental health issues emerging from modern colonization, the diaspora and the waters that connect people. Their work has been featured by HBO (in the documentary Russell Simmons Presents: Brave New Voices), the National Parks Service, Bustle, LitHub, Button Poetry, and NBC News. Giles has spent the past years organizing poetry spaces with Youth Speaks Hawai’i, a creative organization that serves youth and uses spoken word poetry to teach empowerment through storytelling.

You can find out more about William Nu'utupu Giles' performances, awards, and work on their website, here.