Writer and Fulbright scholar R. Zamora Linmark, the former Honolulu boy whose prose and poems are said to roil with energy, has returned to Hawai'i for a celebration of his work.

Linmark is home for the world premiere of "Rolling the R's," a Kumu Kahua Theatre adaptation of his 1995 collection of short stories and poems, and to read from his latest collection of poetry, "The Evolution of a Sigh."

In each case, his written words will come to life.

"I think poetry should always be read out loud, whether it's in Pidgin, Creole, Ebonics, Spanglish or standard English," Linmark said by e-mail. "Poetry, after all, has its history in oral tradition. It is about breath; about giving life to words, which conjure up images and feelings. It is about rhythm and syncopation, song and prayer."

Born in Manila but raised in Honolulu, Linmark has been praised for his unique voice: He's a Filipino-American with a Hawai'i perspective. His work often has been a laughing, raging and sometimes dark exploration of cultural and sexual identity.

The Kumu Kahua production of "Rolling the R's" is a rollercoaster ride of language, Linmark said. "Like the novel, the play is fast-paced, packed with high- energy and dizzying with languages," he said. "There are three languages — or three versions of the English here: Pidgin- English, Tagalog-English and DOE-certified English."

"The Evolution of a Sigh," published this year by Hanging Loose Press, again takes on culture and sexual politics, but this time from the perspective of two cities: Manila and Tokyo. He wrote the collection of poems over the course of two fellowships from 2005 to 2006.

We shot a few questions to Linmark, who lives in Manila, but is touring Mainland cities to read from his work.

Q. What was the inspiration for "The Evolution of a Sigh"?

A. As with my first collection of poetry, "Prime Time Apparitions," I did not sit down and write with a book in mind. I just wrote whatever came to mind at the time, whatever fueled my imagination, whether it was something borne from a direct experience or handed down to me by another person or something I read.

Living in these countries was very intense. But, at the same time, it was also exhilarating. I spent much of my time on the periphery, especially in Japan, observing then processing personal experiences and encounters by keeping a journal. I kept a diary, wrote essays, short stories and poems. By the end of 2005, I looked at what I had written and realized that I had the possibility of a book with at least two running themes. The first is the poet as an itinerant citizen, an ethnographer who participates but mainly observes cultures and peoples and their take on the English language. … I discovered that I was actually following a poetic tradition practiced by Japanese poets like Basho (17th century) and Issa (18th century), whose writings synthesized poetry with pilgrimage, prayer with imagination.

The second … theme was the breakdown of a relationship, that of the speaker or persona and his lover, a poetic tradition that was very popular during the Renaissance period, which I studied when I was a graduate student at the University of Hawai'i in the mid-'90s.

Q. How did growing up in Hawai'i influence your writing?

A. For my first novel, "Rolling The R's," I would say Hawai'i had a lot of influence. But the bulk of the novel was the work of my imagination and library research, for the novel is as much about the spirit of the decade — the disco craze of the '70s — as it is about the place, Kalihi, and the people who lived there.

Q. How difficult is writing and how does it leave you at the end of the day?

A. After three books, with a fourth, a novel, currently making the rounds in New York publishing houses, writing has not gotten easier. One reason why writing … will continue to get even more difficult is my phobia for repetition. … I don't want my books to mimic each other. This is why whenever I start a new project, I make sure that I am writing against the previous books. At the end of the day, what matters most is that I have written or learned something about the craft.

Q. Given that "Rolling the R's" was said to confuse Hawai'i audiences, do you think that adapting it to the Kumu Kahua stage is a good idea?

A. Confuse audiences? Disorient maybe, but not confuse. For one, this is a play about fifth-graders but written for a mature audience and performed by adult actors. Two, it deals with — and subverts — taboo subjects, including several levels of desires. Three, it blurs the lines between reality and dreams, and plays with different genres, for the play is part-drama, part-comedy and has singing and dancing.

Q. As the author of the novel version, what are your greatest hopes for "Rolling the R's" as a play?

A. Just two. One: to engage the viewer's imagination. And two: to offer a different, if not another, way of viewing a play.