Poet, editor, and educator Eric Chock was born in Hawaii in 1950. Coordinator of Poets in the Schools for the Department of Education for more than 20 years, Chock has been a visiting distinguished writer at the University of Hawai’i-Manoa and taught writing and literature at the University of Hawai’i-West O’ahu before his retirement. In his work, Chock frequently explores the experiences of Hawaiian Chinese immigrants, and he is known for his advocacy of “local writing.”