Donald Carreira Ching was born and raised in Kahaluʻu on the island of Oʻahu. He earned his PhD in English from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. His debut novel, Between Sky and Sea: A Family’s Struggle, was published by Bamboo Ridge Press in 2015 and was awarded the Ka Palapala Poʻokela award for excellence in literature, honorable mention, and is listed by Honolulu Magazine as one of Hawaiʻi’s “essential books.” His writing has appeared in numerous publications and anthologies locally and elsewhere, including StoryQuarterly, Every Day Fiction, and RHINO. In 2018, he was awarded the Elliot Cades award for Literature, Emerging Writer, Hawaiʻi’s most prestigious literary award. In 2026, his collection Blood Work and Other Stories (Bamboo Ridge Press 2025) was award the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses Firecracker Award in Fiction, which celebrates outstanding literary contributions and voices.

He is currently an Assistant Professor of Writing at Leeward Community College. He recently completed a grounded cli-fi novel (querying)