M. Anne Kala'i
M. is a writer who works across genres to knit connective tissue between disparate places and communities. Her work was longlisted for the DISQUIET Prize (2025), shortlisted for the Cheshire Novel Prize (2024), and has appeared in the Hawai'i Pacific Review, San Pedro River Review, and Halfway Down the Stairs.
Kala'i is an alumna of PEN America's 2024 Emerging Voices Workshop LA and Vassar College’s creative writing program. She is a member of the Los Angeles chapter of Women Who Submit.
About
My work often focuses on the edges of society, the slippery nature of reality, and the spiritual relationship between humanity and land. I find inspiration in the stories and memories of my maternal, Anglo-Midwestern family and my paternal, Chinese-Kānaka 'Ōiwi (Hawaiian) kin, both of whom share deep ties to their ancestral homes. My transient childhood also informs my work; by the time I was eleven, my single mother, older sister, and I had moved a dozen times between four states. As an adult, I've settled in Los Angeles, but still try to drive the country as often as I can, exploring the endless stories embroidered across the American landscape and carried in its people.