Lee Cataluna

Lee Dorothy Alohakeao Cataluna is a Native Hawaiian playwright, author, and journalist whose work is foundational to contemporary local literature and theater in Hawaiʻi. Her career spans decades of storytelling across newsprint, stage, and books, characterized by a distinct focus on the nuances of "local" identity, humor, and the working-class experience in the islands. As of 2026, she remains a leading voice in shaping Hawai'i narratives, frequently commissioned by major national theater companies to bring Hawai'i's history and modern life to a broader audience while contributing to local journalism. Her Native Hawaiian family, the Kainoapuka line, is from the island of Kauai.

Cataluna earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of the Pacific before pursuing a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing from the University of California, Riverside. After leaving the daily newspaper circuit, she joined Honolulu Civil Beat as a columnist, where she continues to provide commentary on social justice, Hawaiian sovereignty, and the evolution of island culture. In 2025 and 2026, Cataluna's work has seen a significant national push, including commissions from Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., to develop a play about Queen Emma, and collaborations with the San Francisco Playhouse. Three Years on Doreen’s Sofa (2011): A comedic yet empathetic novel about a man's struggle to reintegrate into society after prison. Ordinary ‘Ohana (2016): A children’s book that celebrates the diversity of "ohana" (family) structures in modern Hawaiʻi.

Awards and recognition Cataluna's work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and she has been a finalist for the prestigious Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. She is a recipient of multiple Elliott Cades Awards for Literature, the highest literary honor in Hawaiʻi.