A collaborative publishing effort.

Introducing Mauricio Novoa’s Memorias from the Beltway as the first book in this collaboration. 

FlowerSong Press, the small press based in McAllen, Texas, and known for nurturing essential verse from, about, and through the borderlands in the US, Latin America, and all over the world, and Red Salmon Press, are happy to announce a collaboration to highlight authors to be curated by Red Salmon Press and published by FlowerSong Press.

Red Salmon Arts and its program, Red Salmon Press, carries an over thirty year history of working with the indigenous neighborhoods of Austin, Texas, and is dedicated to the development of emerging writers and the promotion of Chicanx/@/Latinx/@/Native American literature by providing outlets and mechanisms for cultural exchange, and sharing in the retrieval of a people’s cultural heritage with a commitment to social justice.

Both FlowerSong Press and Red Salmon Press actively rupture the hierarchical ways traditional modes of publishing have insisted upon, supporting creatives who reside and give voice to the margins, who are constantly innovating and creating. Both give space to literary heritages that might otherwise be unheard and support emerging writers and readers through its publications.

This collaborative work opens with the introduction of poet Mauricio Novoa and his forthcoming Memorias from the Beltway. Novoa,from Glenmont, Maryland, is currently living in Austin, Texas. He received his MFA at Queens University of Charlotte. Recent work has been published in the anthologies The Wandering Song: Central American Writing in the United States, and The BreakBeat Poets Vol. 4: LatiNext. Other work can be found in The Petigru Review, Acentos Review, Blue Mesa Review and Latino Book Review.

Lilia Rosas, Executive Director of Red Salmon Arts, says of Novoa’s work: “We are held at attention to listen and contend with themes of working-class survivalism, spiritual tenacity, hip hop articulations, and el exilio to disrupt our own understandings of plural Latinidad. Novoa encapsulates nuances about salvadoreño masculinity and quiet invocation of memory, place, and intergenerationality, and familial strife, bonds, and strength.” Edward Vidaurre, Editor-In-Chief with FlowerSong Press, of Novoa’s work, states: “Novoa could be my primo, mi hermano, mi mejor amigo growing up. Memorias from the Beltway is a nostalgic trip to the ‘80s, to abuelita’s kitchen, the streets bumping gangsta’ rap in my Buick Regal, to the lowering of caskets into the tierra. This is poetry in truth for longevity.”

The FlowerSong Press x Red Salmon Press collaboration will strengthen both in lifting necessary voices.

Red Salmon Press

Casa de Resistencia Books

www.resistenciabooks.com

www.flowersongpress.com