Lee A. Tonouchi is co-editor of da literary magazine HYBOLICS and author of
da short story collection DA WORD from Bamboo Ridge Press. To his
enemies, Lee A. Tonouchi is da notorious "Pidgin Guerrilla," one guy
dedicated to promoting da powah of Pidgin as one legitimate language and as
one literature. To his friends and fans, he's jus da Mastah-of-Comic-Disastah cuz his stories get planny humorous kine moments, but because of da strong emotional tensions and da seriousness of da themes Lee's stories transcend da level of crack-you-up entertainment into da
realm of wot can ony be called literary comedy.

People know Lee A. Tonouchi as "Da Pidgin Guerrilla." His
dedication to promoting the power of Pidgin is unparalleled.

Young, but accomplished, Tonouchi's resume speaks for itself. His
collection of short-stories, Da Word, released this year from Bamboo Ridge
Press is winning widespread critical acclaim. This is what some of the
critics are saying:

"frickin' Tonouchi, he get 'em!"
--Lee Cataluna

"entertaining collection of short stories."
--Terry Hong, A Magazine

"This novel is f*#king genius!"
--Pete Lee, Giant Robot

"humorous"
--ISLANDS magazine

"impressive debut book."
--Tracy Uba, Pacific Citizen, San Francisco

"bus up hilarious..."
--Ann Sato, The Honolulu Advertiser

"spirited and funny."
--Cynthia Oi, The Honolulu Star-Bulletin

"We loved it."
--Scott Whitney, HONOLULU magazine

"Tonouchi packs a lot of punch in da word."
--Bob Shimabukuro, The International Examiner's Literary Supplement
The Pacific Reader, Seattle

"Lee Tonouchi kicks ass."
--Lois-Ann Yamanaka

In an effort to spread "da word" about Pidgin, Tonouchi has been
launching an all-media attack. You've seen him on KITV news with Paul
Udell, you've heard him on Glenn Grant's "Chicken Skin" radio program, but
you've also seen Tonouchi doing a wide variety of writing to showcase the
things that can be done with Pidgin.

In addition to publishing poetry and plays in Pidgin, Tonouchi has
published Pidgin stories in many magazines and anthologies locally and on
the continent including such notables as: The Asian Pacific American
Journal, Bamboo Ridge, The Best of Honolulu Fiction, Growing Up Local,
Hawai'i Review, HONOLULU Magazine, and ZYZZYVA. Tonouchi's writing differs
from most other writers who use Pidgin in the fact that he doesn't use
Pidgin for adornment to add color to the dialogue. Consequently, it is a
remarkable achievement that "mainland" publications would accept his
stories with Pidgin narratives--Tonouchi doesn't compromise his work to
suite the literary English mainstream majority.

During his graduate studies at UH, Tonouchi did many of his
critical papers in Pidgin. His most noteworthy is his analytical study of
Local comedy, the most comprehensive piece to be done till this date. He
also did book reviews and letters to the editor in Pidgin while at UH.
Since graduating he has written features, columns, as well as food and
movie reviews for The Honolulu Weekly and The Hawaii Herald--all written
entirely in Pidgin. He was the first male (and Pidgin person) to be
published in The Honolulu Star Bulletin's "Goddess Speaks" column.

Tonouchi knows no boundaries. When he applied for the Ford
Foundation's "Emerging Pacific American Leaders in the Arts Convening," he
submitted his resume in Pidgin and he did his interview in Pidgin. In
January of 2000, he was one of twelve candidates selected nationwide to
attended a roundtable meeting in New York City to discuss issues pertaining
to the various arts communities--all this was paid courtesy of the Ford
Foundation, the world's second largest charitable organization.

Locally, Tonouchi has placed a few times in the HONOLULU Magazine
fiction contest and he has won a couple of Kumu Kahua prizes for his
writing. In 2000, he was an invited main presenter for the 3rd Annual
Hawaii Fall Celebration of Writers where he presented his paper "Da Death
of Pidgin?"

2000 was a good year for Tonouchi. HONOLULU named him "Best New
Face" in the field of literature. The Honolulu Advertiser proclaimed him
to be the "It" person in the field of literature also. The Hawaii Book
Publishers Association selected him to be the keynote speaker for the
HBPA's Kapalapala Po'okela Book Awards where his energetic speech rallied
both young and old to chant along with him "Local Books are Cool!"

Tonouchi is also founder and co-editor of Hybolics, a magazine
devoted to Hawai'i's literature and culture scene. Hybolics is funded from
Tonouchi's own poor-pockets. He has promoted several successful events
including Planny Planny Poets at Barnes and Noble Kahala which drew over a
hundred people (not your typical bookstore reading). His Gen X Local and
Hybolics book launches have been jam-packed also, to the point where dozens
of people had to be turned away. His goal has always been to attract new
audiences to literature and judging from crowds he's been able to join the
literary with the mainstream.

Known to his friends and fans as "Da Mastah of Comic Disastah,"
Tonouchi is also quite a performer himself. He's been invited to do over
50 readings at coffee houses, bookstores, high school classrooms, churches,
art galleries, shopping centers, college lecture halls, and even housing
projects. He frequently volunteers his time guest speaking to children and
young adults where he entertains them with his high-performance Pidgin
readings, conducts mini-writing workshops with them, and educates them on
the power of Pidgin.