Wednesday Evening Seminar is an East-West Center student-led initiative supported by the Education Program and a generous gift from Richard H. Cox.

Pacific Tongues is a nonprofit organization that cultivates an active artistic Oceanic community of writers, spoken word performers, leaders, educators and students of all ages. They are committed to honoring the practice of kuleana through creative workshops, public events, and pedagogical development. They are based in Hawaiʻi, but have partners in Guahan, Palau and Aotearoa.

Lyz Soto is a Co-founder of Pacific Tongues. In the past she has served as the Executive Director of Youth Speaks Hawaiʻi as well as the head coach for the Youth Speaks Hawaiʻi Poetry Slam Team for five years. She recently completed her Ph.D. with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa's English Department where she also teaches. Lyz has performed all over Oceania; in Hawaiʻi, Aotearoa, Marshall Islands, and Papua New Guinea, as well as the continental U.S. Her book, Translate Sun/Son/Sum, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2017 and her poem “American Homelands” won the Ian MacMillan award for poetry. Lyz is interested in poetry, spoken word, Pacific literature and performance studies.

Serena Ngaio Simmons is an award-winning poet whose work has appeared in the Hawaiʻi Review, Literary Hub, Ora Nui and Blackmail Press. Serena was born and raised in Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi and is of Māori descent (Ngāti Porou). She is currently in the Indigenous Politics Masters program at the University of Hawaʻi at Mānoa and is interested in diaspora, identity conflict, mana wāhine and concepts of home.

Wednesday Evening Seminar is an East-West Center student-led initiative supported by the Education Program and a generous gift from Richard H. Cox.

Pacific Tongues is a nonprofit organization that cultivates an active artistic Oceanic community of writers, spoken word performers, leaders, educators and students of all ages. They are committed to honoring the practice of kuleana through creative workshops, public events, and pedagogical development. They are based in Hawaiʻi, but have partners in Guahan, Palau and Aotearoa.

Lyz Soto is a Co-founder of Pacific Tongues. In the past she has served as the Executive Director of Youth Speaks Hawaiʻi as well as the head coach for the Youth Speaks Hawaiʻi Poetry Slam Team for five years. She recently completed her Ph.D. with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa's English Department where she also teaches. Lyz has performed all over Oceania; in Hawaiʻi, Aotearoa, Marshall Islands, and Papua New Guinea, as well as the continental U.S. Her book, Translate Sun/Son/Sum, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2017 and her poem “American Homelands” won the Ian MacMillan award for poetry. Lyz is interested in poetry, spoken word, Pacific literature and performance studies.

Serena Ngaio Simmons is an award-winning poet whose work has appeared in the Hawaiʻi Review, Literary Hub, Ora Nui and Blackmail Press. Serena was born and raised in Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi and is of Māori descent (Ngāti Porou). She is currently in the Indigenous Politics Masters program at the University of Hawaʻi at Mānoa and is interested in diaspora, identity conflict, mana wāhine and concepts of home.