It's been a busy winter, friends, and this month we've got a handful of exciting announcements to make about re-releasing Kellie Richardson's first poetry collection, hosting our first poetry workshop, and dropping details about upcoming events and a chapbook-in-the-making! Here goes:
We're Hosting A Poetry Workshop
On April 5th, we're welcoming award-winning and nationally recognized writer, performer, educator and activist avery r. young to Tacoma in celebration of his new poetry book, neckbone.
To kick things off, avery will lead a small poetry workshop at 2pm at Defiance Square on April 5th. Workshop space is limited to 15 participants and registration is required. Cost for the poetry workshop is $25 per participant (registration fees go directly towards compensating the artist for his time and energy). BCP will also reserve two seats for youth poets, free of charge.
At 5pm, avery will hold a poetry reading and book signing at King’s Books. Former Tacoma Poet Laureate Kellie Richardson will open the event with her stunning poetry, followed by a reading and book signing by avery. The reading is FREE and open to the public. If you’ve never seen avery perform, you will be blown away by his presence and the power of his poetry. Check out one of avery r. young’s performances below.
Poet Avery R Young performing at the Women & Children First BookStore on July 7th, 2017
We Released What Us Is by Kellie Richardson
That's right, you can now find copies of What Us Is, Kellie Richardson's debut poetry collection, on the shelves at King's Books in Tacoma, online with our distributor, Small Press Distribution, or on the Blue Cactus Press website. Order your copy of the newly redesigned book today!
Publication Date: March 1, 2020
ISBN: 9781733037549
Price: $17.00 Order here
What Us Is offers readers a glimpse into the head space of one of Tacoma, Washington’s most respected poets, Kellie Richardson. In her debut poetry collection, Richardson turns herself inside out to let others know they’re not alone.
Keep the Pre-Orders Coming for Terrain
We're delighted that folks are pre-ordering Terrain, the debut poetry collection by poet Gina Hietpas! Since we revealed the gorgeous cover art (by the ever-talented Heather Romano), and started the pre-order campaign last month, we've been hard at work collecting endorsements and proofing this lil beauty in preparation for print! If you're considering ordering Terrain before it publishes later this summer, now is the perfect time to pull the trigger! You can pre-order your copy directly from Blue Cactus Press here.
Publication Date: August 1, 2020
ISBN: 9781733037556
Price: $17.00 Pre-order here
In her debut poetry collection, Terrain, self-taught poet and educator Gina Hietpas offers readers a way to return to the land with care and dignity. Drawing from a deep well of personal observation, connection and participation with the natural world, Hietpas’ poems explore themes of allyship, care, and ultimately, healing.
Did Someone Say Chapbook?
We're delighted to formally announce that later this summer, we're publishing chapbooks in tandem by Samuel Snoek-Brown and Oregon-based writer Yousef Allouzi!
Every so often, BCP facilitates a mentorship between established and emerging writers. The result is a delightful, sleek little chapbook. More importantly it results in a chance for emerging writers to experience the publication process in all its wonderful, scary and time-consuming glory. The process includes months of mentoring and editing between a BCP author and a mentee of their choosing, followed by finishing, compiling and performing their work at a BCP event.
The chapbooks by Snoek-Brown and Allouzi have been a long-time in the making, but it was important to both writers and Blue Cactus Press that the quality of the work and the well-being (and sanity) of everyone involved be given priority over timelines. So, we took it slow. And now we're happy to to say you can get your hands on the chapbooks later this summer at an upcoming BCP event (details TBD). In the meantime, here's a bit of info about the authors:
Yousef Allouzi is an author and data analyst currently living in the Pacific Northwest. He holds a BS in Economics from Oregon State University and a Master of Public Policy from the same institution. His previous writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Scintilla Magazine, openDemocracy, Atticus Review, Malarkey Books, Peculiars Magazine, Gallimaufry Press, Pidgeonholes and Blue Cactus Press. You can follow him on Twitter @j_allouzi where he discusses literature, politics, and economics.
Samuel Snoek-Brown teaches and writes in the Pacific Northwest. He’s the author of the short story collection There Is No Other Way to Worship Them, the Civil War novel Hagridden and flash-fiction chapbooks Box Cutters and Where There Is Ruin. He also works as a production editor for Jersey Devil Press, and he lives online at snoekbrown.com. His work has appeared in dozens of literary magazines, including Bartleby Snopes, Eunoia Review, Fiction Circus, Red Fez and Timberline Review. He’s the recipient of a 2013 Oregon Literary Fellowship and has been shortlisted in the Faulkner-Wisdom competition, twice for short fiction and once for his novella. He was also a finalist in the 2013 storySouth Million Writers Award. In 2015, he was a contributor to the Sewanee Writers’ Conference.
On April 5th, we're welcoming award-winning and nationally recognized writer, performer, educator and activist avery r. young to Tacoma in celebration of his new poetry book, neckbone. To kick things off, avery will lead a small poetry workshop at 2pm at Defiance Square on April 5th. Workshop space is limited to 15 participants and registration is required. Cost for the poetry workshop is $25 per participant (registration fees go directly towards compensating the artist for his time and energy). BCP will also reserve two seats for youth poets, free of charge.
At 5pm, avery r. young will hold a poetry reading and book signing at King’s Books. Former Tacoma Poet Laureate Kellie Richardson will open the event with her stunning poetry, followed by a reading and book signing by avery. The reading is FREE and open to the public. If you’ve never seen avery perform, you will be blown away by his presence and the power of his poetry.
Please join Blue Cactus Press in celebration of three years of publishing under our belt, and another year already underway! On April 30, we’re welcoming poets and authors from our last year of publishing, as well as those whose work we’re featuring in the coming year.
Featured Readers include Robert Lashley, Gina Hietpas, Michael Haeflinger, Jonah Barrett, and more! Following our featured readers, we’ll host a short open mic to celebrate art, community and damn fine literature.
(Blue Cactus Press Anniversary Reading & Open Mic, 6pm, Thursday, April 30, King's Books, 218 St. Helens Ave, Tacoma, FREE)
Podcast + FREE Audio Books
You can get FREE Audio Books from our Sponsor: Libro.fm
Libro.fm is the only independent audiobook platform that supports independent bookstores, and we're proud to say they're our official podcast sponsor! Anyone who signs-up for Libro.fm using our SPECIAL PROMO CODE: PRICKLY, will get three audio books for the price of one.
Every sign-up financially supports Blue Cactus Press and the production of our podcast. Plus, you can designate your favorite independent bookstore to receive a small portion of the proceeds when you sign up! Follow this link to get started.
Learn more about BCP's upcoming titles and what we're up to on social media:
Yousef Allouzi is an author and data analyst currently living in the Pacific Northwest. He holds a BS in Economics from Oregon State University and a Master of Public Policy from the same institution. His previous writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Scintilla Magazine, openDemocracy, Atticus Review, Malarkey Books, Peculiars Magazine, Gallimaufry Press, Pidgeonholes and Blue Cactus Press. You can follow him on Twitter @j_allouzi where he discusses literature, politics, and economics. 
Samuel Snoek-Brown teaches and writes in the Pacific Northwest. He’s the author of the short story collection There Is No Other Way to Worship Them, the Civil War novel Hagridden and flash-fiction chapbooks Box Cutters and Where There Is Ruin. He also works as a production editor for Jersey Devil Press, and he lives online at snoekbrown.com. His work has appeared in dozens of literary magazines, including Bartleby Snopes, Eunoia Review, Fiction Circus, Red Fez and Timberline Review. He’s the recipient of a 2013 Oregon Literary Fellowship and has been shortlisted in the Faulkner-Wisdom competition, twice for short fiction and once for his novella. He was also a finalist in the 2013 storySouth Million Writers Award. In 2015, he was a contributor to the Sewanee Writers’ Conference.
