Chris McKinney

Chris McKinney was born in Honolulu and grew up in Kahaluu on the island of Oahu. He is the author of six novels, The Tattoo, The Queen of Tears, Bolohead Row, Mililani Mauka, Boi No Good, and Yakudoshi: Age of Calamity. His seventh novel, Midnight, Water City, will be released by Soho Press and distributed by Random House in July 2021.

Chris has written two feature film screenplays, Paradise Broken (nominated for best film at the Los Angeles Pacific Film Festival), and Haole, which he co-executive produced (currently available on Prime Video). He has also written two short films, “The Back Door” and “Calamity,” which he also co-produced.

In 2011, Chris was appointed Visiting Distinguished Writer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Over the years, he has won one Elliot Cades Award and seven Kapalapala Pookela Awards.

His first novel, The Tattoo, represents Hawaii on Quiklit's 50 States, 50 Novels: A Literary Tour of the United States.