Hard Skin

Melissa Llanes Brownlee is a Native Hawaiian writer, currently living in Japan, where she teaches English at a junior high school. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Creative Writing and Linguistics from Boise State University and her Master's Degree in Fine Arts in Fiction from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals and magazines, in print and online, including Baltimore Review, Booth: A Journal, The Notre Dame Review, Pleiades, The Citron Review, The SFWP Quarterly, Waxwing, Milk Candy Review, Claw & Blossom, (mac)ro(mic), 3Elements, Necessary Fiction and elsewhere. She was a finalist for the 2018 New American Fiction Prize and the 2019 Brighthorse Prize. She was nominated for Best Microfiction and selected for Best Small Fictions 2021.

Hard Skin is a short story collection set on the Big Island of Hawaii. Written in Standard American English and Hawaiian Pidgin Creole, these stories are filled with family, myths, legends, magic, ghosts, death as experienced by the main characters growing up in Hawaii. Interwoven throughout these stories are the effects of American capitalism, religious indoctrination, cultural appropriation and multi-generational trauma. "Talking Story about Kilauea '' tells stories of Kilauea Volcano, the current home of Pele, the Goddess of Fire. "Da Pier" follows two sisters as they encounter tourists from a visiting cruise ship. In "Ulu's Gift," another pair of sisters brave the Nightmarchers. "My Kuleana '' shares the main character's difficulties in caring for an elderly grandparent. The title story, "Hard Skin," delves into the consequences of our actions and the resilience of our spirit. Each story offers a unique look into the lives of the main characters as they navigate, literally and figuratively, living in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.