The story of Calaca Press
began in 1997 with a conversation about the future which San
Diego community activists Brent Beltrán and Consuelo Manríquez
de Beltrán were having with their friend Manuel J. Vélez.
Vélez, a poet who had recently graduated with a Masters'
degree from a creative writing program at UTEP, pondered the
lack of publishing opportunities for independent Chicano writers.
Taking a cue from their activism, Brent and Consuelo knew that
the best opportunity for success is the one you create yourself.
After assessing their resources,
which basically consisted of their do-it-yourself attitude and
a Macintosh Performa computer, Brent and Consuelo gave birth
to Calaca Press and a first edition of Vélez's book of
poetry, Bus Stops and Other Poems. Four years and a Macintosh
G3 later, and their small press has published two more books
and seven spoken word CDs, all sharing Brent and Consuelo's independent
spirit and vision of community activism and cultural self-determination.
"We're an independent
Chicano family-owned press that believes in creating avenues
for bilingual artists and performers," says Beltrán.
In their commitment to supporting
new, emerging and established artists, Calaca Press has showcased
the work of nearly two dozen writers and performers representing
the diversity of the contemporary Chicano and Latino experience.
Speaking loudly, proudly and with eyes wide open, Calaca Press'
authors unflinchingly telegraph their experiences and speak their
minds.
"We believe that there
are many unknown voices within our community that are worthy
of being published yet are not due to various societal and corporate
realities, restrictions and biases," says Beltrán.
"This is particularly true when it comes to publishing progressive
bilingual voices."
Since its humble beginnings
with Bus Stops, Calaca Press has published two more literary
works, Campesino Fingerprints by Rod Ricardo-Livingstone and
as our barrio turns...who the yoke b on? the anticipated novel
by alurista, the renowned Chicano poet and author of Floricanto
en Aztlán and Nationchild Plumaroja.
In addition, Calaca Press
has also actively developed a relationship with local San Diego
artists such as Victor Orozco Ochoa, Mario Torero and Sal Barajas,
each of whom have designed original artwork for Calaca projects.
In 1999, Calaca Press expanded
from publishing literary works into recording and producing spoken
word CDs. Their inaugural project, Raza Spoken Here: poesía
chicana volume 1, was a cutting-edge collection of contemporary
Chicano and Chicana poets. The critically-acclaimed CD featured
an early sampling of high-powered verse by emerging poets such
as Manuel J. Vélez, Sandra C. Muñoz, Olga Angelina
García Echeverría, Daniel Sánchez-Glazer,
Chuy Quintero and Christian Ramírez. Even more established
performers such as Elba Rosario Sánchez, the Taco Shop
Poets and revolutionary border-bard Trago Amargo contributed
to the effort.
Since that intrepid introduction,
Calaca Press' foray into CD production has yielded numerous titles
which document the emergence of a strong and exciting grass roots
Raza literary movement.
Raza Spoken Here 2, the
much-anticipated followup to their debut disc, delivers up more
notes from the underground with an even more diverse selection
of writers and performers. In "Summer Fruits," Fresno-born
poet Rod Ricardo-Livingstone recounts his upbringing in the San
Joaquin Valley. Salvadoran-born Leticia Hernández-Linares
takes a stand against consumerism, globalization and gentrification
in "Gold Rush," Austin-based Xicanindio activist poet
raúlrsalinas boldly declares "We Hafta Shaft NAFTA!"
Award-winning Iranian/Guatemalan hiphop rockero robertkarimi
recounts the vigilante killing of two grafitti artists in "La
pena de muerte," and self-described Tejana punk Buddhist
Tammy Gomez presents a rollicking musical meditation on assimilation
in "On Language." The disc concludes with the Northern
California raza rock group Grito Serpentino inviting the listener
on a bluesy chalupa-induced cultural nightmare in the hilarious
"Ode To The Taco Bell Chihuahua." RSH2 also includes
works by alurista, alejandra ibarra, Antonieta Villamil, Los
Delicados, and tatiana de la tierra.
In addition to these two
compilations, Calaca Press has also released five full-length
spoken word CDs in the last two years, which they sell through
independent book and record stores, cultural centers, and their
website, www.calacapress.com.
Elba Rosario Sánchez
and Olga Angelina García Echeverría team up for
When Skin Peels. Bay Area favorites Los Delicados serve up a
postmodern barrio snapshot in Word Descarga, and the San Diego-based
Taco Shop Poets chime in with Chorizo Tonguefire. Currently,
the Taco Shop Poets are in the studio working on their second
collaboration with Calaca Press called Crossing Guard, which
features guest appearances by José Montoya and raúlrsalinas.
Working with Red Salmon
Press, Calaca Press released the electrifying Los Many Mundos
de raúlrsalinas: un poetic jazz viaje con friends in 2000.
In this impassioned, jazz infused disc, word warrior raúlrsalinas
tackles issues relating to cultural survival, historical erasure,
AIDS, and the prison-industrial complex in such works as "Pueblo
Querido," "A Walk Through the Campo Santo," "Amorindio,"
"La Peste Arriveé," "Homenaje a la Pachuca."
Calaca Press has also collaborated
with acclaimed artist and author Simón Silva to release
Small-Town Browny, a double-CD of Silva's poignant short stories
about rural campesino life.
Beltrán says he and
Consuelo actively pursue collaborations with other community
artists and small presses.
"Calaca Press has been lucky to come across so many talented
voices, yet we recognize that our means are limited to produce
them all," he says. "Therefore, we strongly encourage
and assist other people, friends, poets, writers and performers
to start their own presses, to self-publish and to record their
own CDs."
Still with an eye to the
future, Calaca Press has also begun producing cultural events
in San Diego. Over the past few years, they have brought raúlrsalinas,
Leticia Hernández-Linares, Rod Ricardo-Livingstone, Olga
Angelina García Echeverría, Elba Rosario Sanchez,
Sandra Muñoz, Los Delicados and Grito Serpentino to San
Diego, a city hungry for Chicano cultural arts programming.
"There is a definite
need for this kind of material," says Beltrán, "especially
considering the changing demographics of California, the southwest
and the rest of the country. It is necessary and important for
each community to develop its own artists and speak for itself."
All of the titles in the
Calaca Press catalog are distinguished by a confidence and vitality
that emanates from the powerful sense of awareness and self-determination
of their authors. A welcome resistance to the corporate cultural
erasure of the so-called "Latin Explosion," these diverse
works present intelligent, critical and original voices that
challenge, uplift the spirit and also entertain.
With all of this that has
come in during the past four years, just imagine what the future
will bring!
