New Guild Officers for 2026
The Guild installed its newly elected officers at its Special Annual Meeting in February 2026 after the conclusion of the election at its Annual Meeting in January.
President: Carol Prescott
Continuing for a second year as president is Carol Prescott from North Kohala on Hawaii’s Big Island. Retired from an academic career in science, Prescott welcomed the opportunity to expand her writing into creative writing projects. She joined Hawaii Writers Guild in 2019 and began to publish nonfiction and poetry pieces in the Guild’s annual journal, Latitudes, and elsewhere.
Despite a busy first year as president, during which she worked with other members of the Guild and a web designer to complete a new Guild website, Prescott published two books. Out of the Blue: Words and Images, is a collection of poems exchanged between herself and her co-author, Michael Foley, who is also a Guild member. In addition, she co-edited her late father’s memoir, How It Was, Or So It Seems: Spring Valley Stories, 1934-1955.
In seeking a second year as president of the Guild, Prescott said she had “greatly enjoyed and benefitted from my association with its members and opportunities to develop my writing skills.” She said she would like to serve for another year to continue working on the board’s many ongoing projects.
Vice President: Cheryl Ann Farrell
Cheryl Ann Farrell, a retired college teacher from the University of Hawaii system who lives on Kauai where she is a member of the Kauai Live Poets Society, was elected to the office of vice president.
Farrell, the Guild’s treasurer in 2025, also assumed duties as vice president when the Guild’s then-serving vice president died suddenly. In choosing to run for the office of vice president in 2026, Farrell said: “By concentrating on the VP duties, I can fully ensure the accuracy of the membership records and be able to assume any responsibilities of the president should that be necessary.”
“More importantly,” she added, “I believe in giving back. HWG has been instrumental in providing colleagues, friendships, resources and inspiration. I am delighted to spend my time, energy, and effort in whatever way I can to help keep HWG an inspiration for others.”
Secretary: Kahualani Aitkin
Kahualani Aitkin says she has lived in every district on the Big Island except Ka’u. She adds that she is currently living “deep in the hapu’u and ohi’a rainforest.” Aitkin, who joined the Guild in 2022, holds an MBA in Accounting and has a diverse occupational background which includes being an ordained minister, yoga instructor, notary, and work in website development, company start-ups and serving as CFO for engineering and masonry companies. More recently, she trained as an instructor for Hawai’i Master Food Preservers and works to help reduce food insecurity.
Aitkin has attended the North Kohala Writers Support Group and writes poetry and short stories “for pleasure”, as well as what she calls a “mostly-memoir” and plant reference booklets. She was one of two Guild members who created the Guild’s new Facebook page.
Aitkin was Guild secretary during part of 2025 and was elected to the position in 2026 after running for office to “continue to support my fellow writers.”
Treasurer: Catherine G. Tripp
Catherine Tripp moved to the Kohala Coast full-time in 2019 and joined Hawaii Writers Guild in 2022. In 2023 she and her husband purchased the Waipio Valley Artworks in Honokaa. She was the Guild’s treasurer for a period during 2024, but left in order to concentrate on the new family business.
Since then, she says, she has been creating systems and procedures at the family business that will allow others to take over duties there so she “can be of service to the Guild” as well as working on her writing.
She has contributed her writing to contests and literary magazines, and, in 2025, one of her poems won an award in a haiku contest about her South Kohala neighborhood. She has been to the Kauai Writers conference three times and says she finds it “inspiring.” Tripp has had a diverse professional background, but perhaps the work most relevant to her position as Guild treasurer is her work in various positions in finance and budgeting for several banks and savings and loan associations. These positions included Manager of Budgets and Planning, Strategic Planning, Senior Financial Analyst and Senior Budget Analyst.
Pictures of our 2026 officers can be found in our board of directors listings.
