A national organization representing more than 450 editors of scholarly journals in all disciplines presented the 2017 Best Special Issue Award to Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, a journal published by University of Hawaiʻi Press and the Center for Biographical Research at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

The Council of Editors of Learned Journals is an Allied Organization of the Modern Language Association. The award went to Biography volume 39, number 3, which was the journal’s special issue on “Indigenous Conversations about Biography.” Guest editors for this issue were Alice Te Punga Somerville, Daniel Heath Justice and UH Mānoa Assistant Professor Noelani Arista.

As detailed in the editors’ Introduction, the special issue started in Mānoa Valley:

“This is a conversation about Indigenous lives, the ways we understand them, the ways we represent them, and the responsibilities that come from doing this work in a good way. And this is just a beginning. We are honored to welcome you to this special issue of Biography, and to the Indigenous scholars, artists, and visionaries who come together in community on the topic of Indigenous biography. Some of this diverse group of Indigenous thinkers came together in person in Mānoa Valley on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu, traveling from the Indigenous territories claimed by New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United States to take up the challenges, questions, concerns, and possibilities of representing Indigenous lives.”

The complete table of contents and contributors for this issue may be read online via Project MUSE.

More about Biography

Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly is co-edited by UH Mānoa Professors Cynthia G. Franklin, Craig Howes and John David Zuern. Managing editors for volume 39 were Stanley Schab, emeritus editor and Managing Editor Anjoli Roy.

Each year, Biography publishes a special issue that explores a topic of emerging critical interest, often centered around a Center for Biographical Research seminar. This year marks the second time Biography has won the Council of Editors of Learned Journals Best Special Issue Award.