Jasmin Iolani Hakes is the author of THE POHAKU and HULA, named a Best Book of the Summer by Harper’s Bazaar and ELLE, best debut novel of 2023 by Booklist, HONOLULU Magazine’s 2024 Book of the Year, and winner of an Audiofile Earphones Award.

She is of mixed ethnicity and is in part a product of those who migrated to the Hawaiian Kingdom to labor in the sugarcane industry from all over the world, including Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and the Portuguese Islands of Madeira and the Azores.

Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Lithub, and the Sacramento Bee. She is the recipient of the Best Fiction award from the Southern California Writers Conference, a Community of Writers LoJo Foundation Scholarship, a Writing by Writers Emerging Voices fellowship, and residencies from Hedgebrook, VCCA, and Storyknife.

She lives in Los Angeles.