Pochino Press: Grounded in the SF Bay’s BIPOC Communities
PHOTOGRAPHED BY: POCHINO PRESS WRITTEN BY: CRISTINA DEPTULA
T he mission of Pochino Press is to publish works that illuminate stories from the intersections where hybrid cultures meet. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, they focus on building and connecting communities of color, locally and internationally, through the works they choose to publish. Their publications include collaborative art books with an Emmy Award-winning painter, a vegan Persian cookbook, a collection of short stories, fiction set in San Francisco’s Mission District, art by an East Oakland tattoo artist, and a look at Chicano hip-hop in Taiwan.
As professor and community educator, and press co- founder, Daniel Zarazua, explains, “We don’t publish for the sake of publishing, but rather, each work is seen as an opportunity to create another platform for people who’ve been historically silenced and to bring together communities who might not ordinarily share space.” Zarazua says that Pochino’s writers and artists challenge assumptions around identity, often drawing from multiple communities to create new perspectives and storylines. This includes people who identify as multi-racial or third culture (raised in a culture different from that of their parents.) “I’d add that all three of our founders are people of color, two of whom are women (Xiomara Castro and Daniel’s wife, Monica Zarazua). Our lived experiences differ greatly
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