FlowerSong Press, a small press based in McAllen, Texas, and Red Salmon Press of Austin, Texas, announced a new publishing collaboration in which authors and their work will be curated by Red Salmon and published by FlowerSong.

The young FlowerSong Press is known for nurturing essential verse from, about, and through the borderlands in the US, Latin America, and all over the world. Red Salmon Arts and its program, Red Salmon Press, has a history of more than thirty years 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 cultural heritage with a commitment to social justice.

Both FlowerSong Press and Red Salmon Press seek to “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.

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, said 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.” 

Former McAllen Poet Laureate and editor-in-chief of FlowerSong Press, Edward Vidaurre, said of Novoa’s work: “Novoa could be my primo, mi hermano, mi mejor amigo growing up. Memorias from the Beltway is a nostalgic trip to the ʼ80s, 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 indie presses in lifting necessary voices.