CHamoru anthology project seeks to carve space for CHamoru literature in the world’s classrooms

CHamoru anthology project seeks to carve space for CHamoru literature in the world’s classrooms

CHamoru anthology project seeks to carve space for CHamoru literature in the world’s classrooms


6/20/2022

Photo of on-island members of the Na’huyong CHamoru Anthology Project
On-island members of the Na’huyong CHamoru Anthology Project board of editors discuss the project. (From left) Teresita Perez, Anne Hattori, Michael Bevacqua, and Evelyn Flores.

The Na’huyong CHamoru Anthology Project, in collaboration with University of Guam Press, is seeking creative writing by CHamoru authors from Guåhan, the Northern Mariana Islands, and across the diaspora to be included in this first anthology of its kind.

Board members
(From top left) Project Director Evelyn Flores, Anne Perez Hattori, Craig Santos Perez, (From bottom left) Teresita Perez, Andrew Roberto, and Michael Lujan Bevacqua.

Project Director Evelyn Flores and the project’s editorial board chose the CHamoru word na’huyong, meaning “let it out,” because of its imperative voice and its sense of urgency.

The editorial board includes leading names in CHamoru literary production living in Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the CHamoru diaspora: Anne Perez Hattori, Craig Santos Perez, Michael Lujan Bevacqua, Teresita Perez, and Andrew Roberto.

Like the earlier “Indigenous Literatures from Micronesia,” co-edited by Flores and published by University of Hawai‘i Press in 2019, Na’huyong seeks to carve out literary space for, in this case, CHamoru writers, wherever Pacific Island literature or indigenous literature is being taught.

“We have i manCHamoru writing ferociously,” Flores said, “but we don’t have us visibly all together forming a critical mass.”

The project aims to change this through its resulting anthology that will bring to classrooms across the world some of the best in CHamoru writing.

Interested individuals may submit up to three selections from their best work, whether poetry, short stories, one-act plays, essays, or excerpts from novels or memoirs.

Members of the Na’huyong CHamoru Anthology Project editorial board
On-island members of the Na’huyong CHamoru Anthology Project editorial board. (From left) Teresita Perez, Anne Hattori, Evelyn Flores, and Michael Bevacqua.

Submission packets should include a cover page; three of the author’s best works; a brief author biography; and contact information that includes a mailing address, email address, and phone number. Writers may access the official Call for Submissions, required forms, and further information at
www.uog.edu/uogpress/nahuyong-call-for-submissions.

Submissions must be sent to chamoruanthology@gmail.com by the deadline of Dec. 31, 2022.

UOG Press will also be hosting creative writing workshops throughout the island from July through November. The workshops will provide an opportunity for work to be vetted before submitting it to the anthology or to other UOG Press projects. More information on UOG Press’s island-wide workshops will be forthcoming.

Follow @uogpress on Instagram and Facebook or email uogpress@triton.uog.edu to be added to their newsletter to stay updated about the Na’huyong CHamoru Anthology Project and writing workshops.

About University of Guam Press

The University of Guam Press publishes an array of academic and literary books and journals with a specific focus on the unique history, environment, peoples, cultures, and languages of the islands that make up the Western Pacific region. UOG Press strives to increase the availability of exceptional scholarly and literary texts that can be used as learning resources about Guam and Micronesia for people and institutions in the region and throughout the world. UOG Press publications may be purchased at uogpress.com