b. 1946 Honolulu, Hawai'i
earlier wrote under Carolyn Lau
has also appeared as Carolyn Leilani Lau
full name Carolyn Leilani Yu Zhen Lau
another name Karyle Lau
of Hakka heritage -- her Chinese mother Mildred Chong Lau, born on Kohala
her father John Winfred/Winfield -- Chinese, Hawaiian, and Portuguese, born in Nu'uanu, O'ahu
sister Jacqueline Lokelani
daughters Eirelan Kai'ipo and Kalea-Qyana
M.A. in English, San Francisco State, specializing in Chinese poetry, linguistics, and William Blake
after graduation worked for the gestalt psychotherapist Frederick S. Perls
expert on Chinese women's secret language of Hu Nan Province
1989 American Book Award for her first book of poetry, Wode Shuofa --My Way of Speaking
Ono Ono Girl`s Hula, University of Wisconsin Press, 1997
widely anthologized, including The Best American Poetry of 1996, Making More Waves: New Writing By Asian American Women edited by Elaine H. Kim, Lilia V. Villanueva, and Asian Women United of CA Paperback $6.95 0-807-05913-7. Chinese American Poetry: An Anthology Edited by L. Ling-chi Wang and Henry Yiheng Zhao Paperback $6.95 0-295-97154-1 University of Washington, 1991, and others
has appeared in such journals as The Bloomsbury Review, The American Poetry Review, Manoa, Yellow Silk, Zyzzyva, and Calyx.
has been a lecturer at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa and at West O'ahu, Tianjin Foreign Language Institute in China, and Cal State- Hayward.
divides her time between Oakland, California and Honolulu, Hawai'i
Carolyn Lau at Roth Publishing
Carolyn Leilani Lau at Raven Chronicles
Carolyn Lau Shunzo Sakamaki Extraordinary Lecture
Ono Ono Girl's Hula reviewed by Justin Chin
Ono Ono Girl's Hula panned by Jonathan Friedman