Kawai Strong Washburn was born and raised on the Hamakua
coast of the Big Island of Hawai'i. His work has appeared in
McSweeney's, Electric Literature and The Best American Nonrequired
Reading, among others. He has received scholarships from the Tin
House and Bread Loaf writer's workshops and has worked in software
and as a climate policy advocate. He lives in Minneapolis with his
wife and daughters. Sharks in the Time of Saviours is his first
novel.
kawaistrongwashburn.com
The novel you never knew you were waiting for. Old myths clash with
new realities, love is in a ride or die with grief, faith rubs hard
against magic, and comic flips with tragic so much they meld into
something new. All told with daredevil lyricism to burn. A
ferocious debut
*MARLON JAMES*
Sharks in the Time of Saviours is a brilliant novel and one of the
most engaging and memorable books I've read this year. Sentences
sparkle, the narrative voices remain distinctive and complete, and
the deep notes of magic sound under the realism of poverty and
loss. I didn't want it to end
*SARAH MOSS*
As vivid as it is splendid . . . This may be his debut, but he
proves himself an old hand at dissecting the ways in which places -
our connections to them, our disconnections from them - break us
and remake us . . . With prose that can be breathy and sweaty in
one paragraph before gliding softly and tenderly into the next,
this passionate writer cries out for us to see Hawaii in its
totality: as a place of proud ancestors and gods and spirits, but
also of crumbling families and hopelessness and poverty. Of mystery
and beauty at every corner
* * New York Times * *
Sharks in the Time of Saviours bursts with life. It is bright and
beautifully noisy. It's so good it hurts and hurts to where it
heals. It is revelatory and unputdownable. Washburn is an
extraordinarily brilliant new talent. This family saga is shark
tooth sharp. Its pages shoot off crackles and sparks, and you come
out of it changed. It is sublime
*TOMMY ORANGE, author of THERE, THERE*
Adjusted my understanding of the world . . . Beautifully written
and completely absorbing
* * Guardian * *
[Hawai'i's] ancient history and lush natural beauty pulses through
the book. Washburn is an assured and agile stylist, creating a
unique and urgent voice for each member of the family . . . An
electrifying, heart-wrenching exploration of how life, hope and
goodness persist in the aftermath of loss
* * Daily Mail * *
Radiant . . . Immediately grips you in its jaws, plunges you into
Hawaiian waters, and finally releases you, breathless and changed .
. . There's something bewitching, too, in Washburn's prose - the
furious, lively spell of it
* * O, The Oprah Magazine * *
Epic in scope, it throbs with magic realism and urban misery . . .
[Written with] style and swagger . . . Told with such loquacious
vigour that the reader is swept along, utterly rapt. It marks
Washburn out as a writer with talent to burn
* * i * *
A beautifully written debut novel
* * Vogue * *
Mixes hardscrabble Hawaiian reality with flights of wonder and the
supernatural in a way that is wholly original
* * Vanity Fair * *
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