About the Press

Blue Cactus Press is an independent publishing house crafting books that serve as community resources, by collaborators from historically marginalized groups. We create books and open dialogue that move us toward liberation. Our catalog includes poetry, fiction, self-help, business, sociology, memoir, and anti-racism genres.

We envision a world in which

Books empower & celebrate communities we walk in.

Equitable business models center collective liberation as the rule, not the exception, and offer makers dignity, autonomy, and creative voice.

Our planet is prioritized over profit.

Publishing practices are accessible and gate-free.

We value

Creatively satisfying, financially viable, and relationally resonant work.

Relational responsibility among humans, our environment, and other living organisms.

Curiosity.

Craftsmanship.

Our community includes

Pacific Northwest Bookseller Association (PNBA), a regional non-profit trade association promoting literacy, free speech and independent bookselling in the United States. PNBA represents booksellers in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. Blue Cactus Press is a member of PNBA and our publisher, Christina Vega, is the vice-president of the Board of Directors.

books

Browse our books below, as well as some from like-minded presses and authors of the Pacific Northwest. Your purchase allows our collaborators — including authors, artists, designers, editors, marketers, and printers — to thrive.

The Homeboy Songs

The Homeboy Songs is Robert Lashley’s complex homage to the black community of Tacoma, Washington. As part of a Northwest population with people from the deep South and a survivor of the Hilltop gang wars of the early 90’s, Lashley’s poetry makes sense of the multitude of voices that have surrounded him over the years. His passion joins high lyric poetry burnished by narrative structure, with a language attuned to the ear and the complexities of the human voice.

$16.00

Itzá

In her debut novella, Rios de la Luz examines the lives of a small family of water witches living near the US-Mexico border. Exploring issues of race and trauma along with beauty and magic, Itzá is a powerful reclamation of body and identity.

$15.00

Up South

In Up South, his second book of poems, Robert Lashley has gone deeper into the rituals, folklore, and ceremonies of Black Tacoma. This is a book about cities within cities, where the present has roots in decades of history, and the evidence of things unseen still guides people’s actions. In different forms, voices, and modes of rhetoric, Lashley paints complicated, moving pictures of environments, and people trying to survive in them.

$16.00

Papeachu Review Issue 1

Papeachu Review is an annual anthology of prose, poetry, nonfiction, art, and comics, all created by female, nonbinary, and genderqueer artists. In this issue, each of the 24 contributors were able to publish up to 3 individual pieces along with a bio page, showcasing not only their work, but who they are as artists.

$18.00

Papeachu Review Issue 2: Beauty

Papeachu Review is an annual anthology of prose, poetry, nonfiction, art, and comics, all created by female, nonbinary, and genderqueer artists. In this issue, each of the 31 contributors submitted artwork, poems, short fiction, or a personal essay based on the theme of beauty and their interpretations of that theme.

$18.00

Papeachu Review Issue 3: Beginnings and Endings

Papeachu Review is a bi-annual anthology of poetry, prose, essays, comics, and art, all created by female and non-binary artists. This issue is extra special! Not only is this our largest issue yet, it is also our first color edition! With 35 talented contributors across mediums, this issue is one of Papeachu’s proudest moments. Celebrate marginalized voices with this 220 page anthology.

$22.00

Papeachu Review Issue 4: Real Magic

Papeachu Review is a bi-annual anthology of poetry, prose, essays, comics, and art, all created by female and non-binary artists. This issue was created during a global pandemic and a continuing fight for racial justice, which is the Real Magic of this collection. We are so pleased to share this stunning, full-color anthology containing 28 bright, talented, and passionate contributors across mediums. We are also excited to announce that $2 from every book will be donated to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute! Celebrate marginalized voices with this 178 page anthology!

$22.00

Papeachu Review Issue 5: Comfort

Papeachu Review is an annual anthology of prose, poetry, nonfiction, art, and comics, all created by female, nonbinary, and genderqueer artists. This issue is extra special! For the first time ever, Papeachu Review has been published BIG, sizing up from the original format of 6.5 x 6.5 to 8 x 8! This size change has been a long-awaited goal, and we are so happy to announce it after 4 years of publishing. This issue’s theme was comfort, and artists created work centered around that theme.

$26.00

Vega

Much like the star, Vega is a dazzling light for those who struggle with grief, depression, and loss. Written by poet and publisher Christina Vega, this sophomore poetry collection centers the Chicana experience amid the rippling effects of unexpected loss within multigenerational families, strained familial dynamics, and reconnecting with ancestral ties. Vega is a book about finding power within liminality, rather than a path away from it.

$20.00