It's almost Spring, everyone! What better way to celebrate the end of winter than with exciting news from your favorite independent press?
Monthly Newsletter
It's almost Spring, everyone! What better way to celebrate the end of winter than with exciting news from your favorite independent press? We've got some great content coming your way, including brand new cover art, an upcoming book release, and ways to involve yourself with the publishing community this year. After you're done reading, head to bluecactuspress.com to get your own copies of the incredible books we're working on.
We are so excited to share the cover art for our upcoming poetry release Green River Valley by Robert Lashley! Make sure to check out the artist, Jody Poorwill, for more incredible photography. Green River Valley is an unapologetic and harrowing look at gentrification, racism, and personal and collective loss in his hometown of Tacoma, Washington. The book is set to release this June, but you can read one of Lashley's poems here, and pre-order the book on our website now!
We Just Snagged Our Next Author
Next February, we will be publishing Alissa Tu's fragmentary poetry collection, Confessions of a Modern Day Kumiho! This hot little toddy is about (failed) love, romance, and relationships, and is filled with dark, biting humor and magical realism. "It's an attempt to discuss the shit-show of a love life and navigating the world of modern day dating, which often results in heartbreak and heartlessness. But the writing is all heart and love," says Alissa. You can find Alissa online on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
About Alissa: Born and raised in Olympia, Washington, Alissa Tu spends most of her days as an MFA student at the University of California San Diego. Her work can be found in Asian American Writers’ Workshop, Loud Coffee Press, and Bitter Melon Poetry. When she isn’t cleaning up romantic messes, she’s trying to write the perfect Vietnamese love letter.
We're Launching Moss Covered Claws
As we finish up the printing phase of book production for Moss Covered Claws, we're also planning the official book launch! Here's what we've got coming, and what we hope you'll participate in alongside us as we celebrate Jonah Barrett's debut book, Moss Covered Claws:
Thursday, March 18th: Official Publication Day & Social Media Takeover
Friday, March 19th, at 7PM (PST) Virtual Book Launch & Reading
Join us on Zoom (registration required) for a short reading by Jonah Barrett, followed by a Q&A with the audience and a short discussion about MONSTERS (how could we not?) with Jonah and publisher Christina Butcher! To register for the event, please email BlueCactusPress@gmail.com.
If you haven't purchased a copy of Moss Covered Claws yet, you can order it online here: Moss Covered Claws
If you enjoy their creative writing, we hope you'll support Ching-In Chen by purchasing one of their books at your local indie bookstore, like King's Books in Tacoma, Orca Books in Olympia, or Third Place Books in Seattle.
¡New Offerings!
Blue Cactus Press Membership
Starting this year, you can become a Blue Cactus Press Member! Our membership has four levels you can choose from - Moon, Star, Cholla, and Saguaro (notice our theme yet?) all with exciting new ways to be involved with the press. Rewards include discounts on every purchase, FREE Advanced Readers Copies of upcoming titles, and free admittance to workshops and select events, depending on which membership you select. Sign up for a yearly membership and start enjoying the benefits today!
We're Holding Writing Workshops
This Spring, Blue Cactus Press is hosting a series of creative writing workshops, starting with two poetry critique sessions in April! "Feedback, Not Friction" is a poetry critique session for women of color (including gender-nonconforming individuals) to give and receive feedback on original poetry. "Feedback, Not Friction" has two registration dates to choose from and will utilize workshop principles presented by Felicia Rose Chavez in The Anti-Racist Writing Workshop.
In May, we're offering "Lie Your Ass Off," a poetry workshop facilitated by Michael Haeflinger. The workshop will explore the art of lying in poetry and participants will receive a free copy of Michael Haeflinger's poetry collection, Low Static Rage, upon registration.
At the end of January, we had the pleasure of being on the local TV program, Cityline, to chat about community arts projects. More specifically, we taked about the Women of Color anthology we're working on with the help of the Tacoma Arts Commission! Watch the video below to see what we had to say, and to see who else around town is working on community arts projects funded by Tacoma Arts Commission!
Christina Butcher on Cityline, chatting about BCP's upcoming anthology of creative writing by women of color.
Learn more about BCP's upcoming titles and what we're up to on social media:
