U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón in The Green Room

Join us for a special Green Room with U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón

with special guest Brandi Nālani McDougall

Tuesday, December 13, 6:30pm

Washington Place

Honolulu

After nearly three years we are returning to Honolulu with a very special Green Room.

On Tuesday, December 13th, we'll come together for an evening of poetry and conversation with poet Ada Limón, 24th Poet Laureate of the United States. We will gather in downtown Honolulu, on the open-air Green Lanai at Washington Place, the former residence of Hawaiʻi’s last reigning monarch, Queen Liliʻuokalani. Maui-born Kanaka ‘Ōiwi poet, author, and scholar Brandy Nālani McDougall will welcome the Poet Laureate with a short poetry reading, with Ms. Limónʻs reading to follow. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. 

Register early; these tickets are expected to go quickly.

The Merwin Conservancy is grateful to

• Jeanne Herbert and the Kīpuka Fund for generously hosting this event
• Louise “Gussie” Schubert, President of Washington Place Foundation
• The Atherton Family Foundation
• William True
• Halekulani Hotel

General Admission tickets are $25 each plus fees.

Those who wish to become Green Room Patron Donors with a gift of $250 will have preferred seating at the event. Green Room Patrons will also be invited to a pre-event reception with light dinner catered by Ed Kenney at 5pm. Patrons will also receive two books of Ada Limón’s poetry. (More details will be sent to Patrons via email.)

For an additional $40, general admission guests can pre-purchase our Green Room Book Bundle: Ada Limón’s two most recent poetry collections: The Hurting Kind (2022) in hardcover and The Carrying (2021) in paperback, published by Milkweed Editions. (These books are included with a Green Room Patrons donation.) All pre-purchased books will be available for pick up at the event’s book table. Books will not be available for sale at Washington Place. Ms. Limón will sign books after the event in the Glass Lanai. Face coverings will be required for the book signing, per the request of the Library of Congress and Ms. Limón.

The event timeline:

• 5:00 pm - Private reception for Green Room Patrons
• 6:15 pm - General Admission arrivals - entrance at Beretania gate
• 6:30 pm - Main event begins in Green Lanai
• 8:00 pm - Book signing in Glass Lanai (face coverings required)
• 8:30 pm - Event concludes

How to Access the Event/Parking Details: Our gathering will be located in the Green Lanai, with guest check-in at the front entrance gate on Beretania Street. The Department of Health parking lot on Miller Street is available starting at 4pm, and provides the closest access to the event space. There are a number of municipal parking lots in the area available as well. Please note that all guests names must be included in your ticket reservation, and you may be asked to show ID at the gate when arriving at the event.

This intimate, outdoor gathering will be filmed and broadcast online on a later date. By attending this event, you consent to being a part of the video broadcast.

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ABOUT ADA LIMÓN:

Ada Limón is the author of six books of poetry, including The Carrying, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry. Her book Bright Dead Things was nominated for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. Her work has been supported most recently by a Guggenheim Fellowship. She grew up in Sonoma, California and now lives in Lexington, Kentucky where she writes, teaches remotely, and hosts the critically-acclaimed poetry podcast, “The Slowdown.” Her new book of poetry, The Hurting Kind, is out now from Milkweed Editions. She is the 24th Poet Laureate of The United States.

ABOUT BRANDY NĀLANI MCDOUGALL:

Originally from Kula, Maui, Brandy Nālani McDougall is of Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Hawai'i, Maui, and Kauaʻi lineages), Chinese, and Scottish descent. She is the author of a poetry collection, The Salt-Wind, Ka Makani Paʻakai (Kuleana ʻŌiwi Press 2008), and has edited three Pacific poetry anthologies. Her scholarly monograph Finding Meaning: Kaona and Contemporary Hawaiian Literature (University of Arizona Press 2016) was awarded the 2017 Beatrice Medicine Award for Scholarship in American Indian Studies. Her next poetry collection, ʻĀina Hānau/ Birth Land, is forthcoming from the University of Arizona Press in Summer 2023. She is an Associate Professor specializing in Indigenous Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.