Desireé Leialoha is a proud Kanaka Oʻiwi (Native Hawaiian) writer from the SF Bay Area who loves telling stories that reflect the various communities of where she grew up. Although removed from her family’s ancestral land by 3,000 miles, she is part of a fiercely Hawaiian family and continues to share the values and history of her heritage and identity with her teenage son. Raised in a prolific martial arts family as the granddaughter of Shaolin Kenpo founder Ralph Castro, Desireé grew up surrounded by people and stories so unique that she often felt alone in the world, as if no one else would understand her life. So now she works to tell stories that connect us to where we are, our relationships, and let us know we aren’t alone in the world. Desireé studied Creative Writing and Ethnic Studies at Saint Mary’s College of CA. It is this educational background and her unique lived experiences as a diasporic-Kanaka and single mom from the Bay Area that is foundational in understanding how she forms characters and stories that can relate to multiple communities of readers. Her writing experience includes short stories, personal essays, plays, and most recently has been focused on screenwriting craft. Her short plays have been showcased at the Native Voices Annual Short Play Festival (2024 & 2026) and Entertwine’s APIDA’s Short Play Top Ten Grand Event (2023-2025). In 2025, she was a fellow in Native American Media Alliance’s Writers Seminar.