Journalism alum Erika Hayasaki wins Nautilus Book Award in Journalism and Investigative Reporting

Erika Hayasaki (BS ’01, journalism), a writer and associate professor of literary journalism at the University of California in Irvine, won a silver Nautilus Book Award in Journalism and Investigative Reporting for her 2022 nonfiction novel Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity and the Meaning of Family.

Hayasaki’s book, which was also named one of NPR’s Books We Love in 2022, tells the story of identical twins who were born in Vietnam—one was adopted by an affluent white American family, the other was raised by her maternal aunt. The two eventually meet as teenagers. 

The Nautilus Book Awards began in 1998 with a core mission to celebrate and honor books that support conscious living and green values, wellness, social change and social justice, and spiritual growth.