Five poems by Garrett Hongo

Garrett Hongo’s writing is rooted in beauty and emotion. The creative writing professor is a master of translating feelings from his past into vibrant literature. In Kahuku, a Hawaiian town on the north shore of Oʻahu where he spent his early childhood, Hongo was surrounded by beauty on all sides: breathtaking vistas, lush forests and rain-drenched volcanic peaks blanketed

At the age of fourteen, during my last year in junior high school in Gardena, I began to realize that if I were ever to get a date I ’d have to revolutionize my musical point of reference. The faux folk music and light pop I ’d once cherished had to be exchanged for something completely different. I was among

Garrett Hongo, a professor of poetry at the University of Oregon, ... has spent the last few decades searching for the perfect hi-fi system. His book “The Perfect Sound: A Memoir in Stereo” is itself a stereo recording, with autobiography in one channel and his search for the best sound in the other—a search that involves learning about different kinds

I expected poet-essayist Garrett Hongo’s “The Perfect Sound: A Memoir in Stereo” to recount the author’s obsession with finding and building the ideal listening equipment. But it turns out you don’t have to be a nerdy audiophile to completely love this volume. “The Perfect Sound” contains multitudes.  The book is dedicated to the author’s father — Albert