But an outgrowth of developing those voices was the challenge of how to represent Hawai‘i’s patois, commonly referred to as “pidgin,” in a way that I thought read well on the page and wouldn’t be too challenging for the reader’s eye, yet still captured the rhythm as best as possible.ģ. They each needed distinct psyches and distinct voices, a challenge in itself. Since none of the characters are consciously based on anyone I know, including myself, I had to create a set of characters completely out of thin air. What was the most challenging thing about writing the book? The central image-a child being pulled gently from the water by sharks-had been in my head for a few years before that, so I’d been unconsciously interrogating it for some time.Ģ. It was ten years, or maybe longer, from the time I first pressed the keys on a keyboard until the words appeared on physical pages. How long did it take you to write Sharks in the Time of Saviors? Kawai Strong Washburn, author of Sharks in the Time of Saviors. His writing can also be found in Best American Nonrequired Reading, McSweeney’s, and Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading.
“Kawai Strong Washburn’s vision is searing, his talent explosive, his heart beating loud on every page.” Kawai Strong Washburn was born and raised on the Hāmākua coast of the Big Island of Hawai‘i.
“ Sharks in the Time of Saviors is a lush, virtuosic novel with breathless scope and last depth,” writes Claire Vaye Watkins. The gathering of sharks is the first of many supernatural events that transpire around Noa and his family, and Washburn alternates between their different points-of-view to create a prismatic family saga. Shifting from Hawai‘i to the mainland United States and back again, Sharks in the Time of Saviors charts the family’s exile and pursuit of salvation, their bond to one another and to their home. Out at sea off the coast of Kailua-Kona, Hawai‘i, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls into the water, but is quickly rescued by a shiver of sharks that gently return him to his mother. When the Flores family is at its most vulnerable, ancient Hawaiian gods appear to intervene. This week’s installment of Ten Questions features Kawai Strong Washburn, whose debut novel, Sharks in the Time of Saviors, is out today from MCD/FSG.
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