Pochino Press offers a multi-media stage for change makers and culture creators with a particular slant on works that explore the intersections of culture.
The mission of Pochino Press is to publish works that illuminate stories, which originate in the intersections where hybrid cultures not only meet, but form a new sensibility. Our publications include collaborative art books with Emmy-Award winning painter James Gayles, a vegan Persian cookbook, a collection of short stories by Monica Zarazua, fiction set in San Francisco's Mission District, art by East Oakland tattoo artist El Chamuco, and a look at Chicano hip-hop in Taiwan.
What a great time we had this past Sunday in celebration of dani gabriel's new book "in the middle of all this living!"
Ananda Esteva and David Flores were phenomenal supporting readers and the Medicine For Nightmares staff were great hosts.
Another great moment in The Mission!
In a few short hours, join us in San Pancho at as we celebrate dani gabriel's latest book, "in the middle of all this living." Check their bio below. We'll be joined by supporting readers Ananda Esteva and David Flores, along with some light refreshments. Cone for the good vibes, some great poetry, and hang at one of S.F.'s most welcoming gathering spots !
"Dani Gabriel is writer and teacher, the author of three previous collections of poetry and three children’s books. They are a fire eater and ex-Reverend from the Bay Area. They have been called “The Poet Laureate of the nation of Hope” by James Tracy. They are also the former Poet Laureate of El Cerrito, CA.
Their new book of poetry explores the reality of Gen X now: middle age. They rip through conventions to get at the visceral experiences of surviving cancer, raising teenagers, and being in the middle of an epic q***r love story."
We're just a day away from our reading at , cele rating dani gabriel's new book, "In the Middle of All this Living. "
Ananda Esteva is one of our supporting readers and has an amazing legacy of her own. Check out her bio below.
Come visit one of The Mission's cultural treasures, the Medicie For Nightmares bookstore and community space, hear some great authors, and wrap up your visit with some good neighborhood eats!
"Ananda Esteva was born in Chile and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has taught poetry with June Jordan's Poetry for the People,the East Bay Institute for Urban Arts, Digital Underground Story Telling, and Writers' Corps. A gifted storyteller, she intertwines bilingual poetry and song to paint a picture of life in Las Americas. Her writing weaves in a duality of culture, perspective, sexuality, and language. Ananda is currently working on three projects: a children's story about a juggling coyote who treks the wildlands to save his life, a young adult novel about a bass prodigy who goes on an odyssey to reclaim her grandmother's bass, and a memoir detailing her first trip back to Chile in 1987 during Pinochet's dictatorship."
This Sunday from 2-4, you can catch the Pochino Press crew at , where we'll be celebrating dani gabriel's latest book.
We have two stellar supporting readers as well. First up is frequent collaborator David Flores, Richmond, CA's Poet Laureate!
Come through to catch some great writers and support a special bookstore and community space.
"David Flores is a poet, MC, educator, and mindfulness trainer from Richmond, CA. He firmly believes in the power of art and mindfulness as ways to help us heal and find our voice. It is his life's mission to inspire youth and adults of all ages to evolve into their highest selves."
We're so excited to share this upcoming reading celebrating dani gabriel's latest book! We also have some great supporting readers lined up and we'll be at one of our favorite bookstores!
"Dani Gabriel is writer and teacher, the author of three previous collections of poetry and three children’s books. They are a fire eater and ex-Reverend from the Bay Area. They have been called “The Poet Laureate of the nation of Hope” by James Tracy. They are also the former Poet Laureate of El Cerrito, CA.
Their new book of poetry explores the reality of Gen X now: middle age. They rip through conventions to get at the visceral experiences of surviving cancer, raising teenagers, and being in the middle of an epic q***r love story."
A few more pictures from ! There was simply no way to see all the great readings, but we were able to checkout our friends over at and briefly catch up with .flo_sf, who recently dropped a new book with . We're 3/4 through and it's a great read!
Yesterday's reading for Beast Crawl was magical! A big thank you to the readers, Lina, Ricardo, Norma, Paul, and Nahid, as well as Monica, who emceed.
Much love to all the audience members and to Oaklandish for hosting. Great job, ! We appreciate your organization, professionalism, and thoughtful curation. We can't wait until the next one!
We're just an hour away from our Beast Crawl reading! We have a great lineup, including Nahid Fattahi.
"Nad Fattahi’s work as a writer and psychotherapist addresses human connection, human rights, and mental health."
Checkout for the full lineup of events. They've put together a stellar list of hosts, readers, and venues!
Next up for tomorrow's Beast Crawl reading!
"Paul Aponte is a Chicano Poet from Sacramento. He is a member of the writers groups Círculo and Escritores Del Nuevo Sol. His work has been anthologized in El Tecolote Press’ Poetry in Flight, Sacramento Poetry Center's Poetry Now, and Soñadores - We Came To Dream. He can be found at poetry readings throughout the greater San Francisco Bay Area."
Whoa! is less than 48 hours away! Check their link for the full schedule. Make sure to check us out as we celebrate the Pan Dulce Poets and friends. Next up....
"Lina Rincón is an immigrant, sociologist, teacher and poet. She is originally from Colombia. Her poetry has been published in Harvard’s journal “Palabritas”, Acentos Review, in Puerto del Sol's series "Voz," Rejoinder Magazine and iō Literary Journal."
Pochino Press presents the Pan Dulce Poets, representing a Mission-based reading series hosted at La Reyna Bakery from 2015-2017.
Our next feature reader for this Saturday's Beast Crawl event!
"Norma Smith lives in Oakland, Cali. She has worked as a journalist, a translator-interpreter, community scholar-educator, event and conference organizer, and as an editor, writing coach, and workshop facilitator. Nomadic Press published Norma’s first book of poems, HOME REMEDY in 2017."
We're super excited for Beast Crawl this Saturday!
"Pochino Press presents the Pan Dulce Poets, representing a Mission-based reading series hosted at La Reyna Bakery from 2015-2017."
Our first feature is Ricardo Tavarez.
Ricardo Tavarez is a Bay Area educator and arts organizer. He co-founded the Pan Dulce Poets with Louie Gutierrez from La Reyna Bakery for the 2015 International SF Flor y Canto Festival. You can find Ricardo jogging along Lake Merritt and hiking along the Oakland Hills.
Good times at the Charles Blades Barber Spa last night! Our features Lateef McLeod and dani gabriel shared some powerful pieces while Monica Zarazua previewed some new work.
A big thank to Alie Jones, co-founder of Black Freighter Press, for holding fown the MC duties!
We're just a few hours away from this month's open mic session. Our guest MC for the night is Alie Jones, one of our favorite performers, entrepreneurs, and all-around human beings! See you all soon!
"Alie Jones is a self-care advocate, writer, artist, and Creole mermaid. She is Co-founder and Director of Black Freighter Press, a revolutionary press committed to the exploration of liberation, using art to transform consciousness. She is a founder of Bodacious Bombshells, a wellness collective in Oakland.
Alie is a yoga instructor passionate about centering our breathwork as sacred and hopes to build a legacy of awareness and expression. Alie graduated with her MFA in Creative Writing and Literature from Mills College. She received her MPA from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and BA in Cinematic Arts & Technology from CSU Monterey Bay and a minor in Creative Writing and Social Action. Alie is the host of the podcast called Chit Chat with Aliecat , she explores self-care practices and journeys of self-love in community."
Some way late pictures from the Pride in the Plaza event a few weeks back. It was our first time vending in Concord, CA and we had a blast. staff were professional and welcoming hosts and we met so many great people. We're looking forward to the next one!
Check out our second feature at this Saturday's open mic session at ! Come through to share some work or just listen! We'll have the air on and some drinks. Come build with good folks!
"Dani Gabriel is writer and teacher, the author of three previous collections of poetry and three children’s books. They are a fire eater and ex-Reverend from the Bay Area. They have been called “The Poet Laureate of the nation of Hope” by James Tracy. They are also the former Poet Laureate of El Cerrito, CA."
A big thank you last night's readers and audience members. There was a lot of talent, history, and love in the room!
shuck and , thank you for the invitation!
San Francisco Poet Laureate emerita Kim Shuck invites the Pan Dulce poets and special guests to read at SFPL’s monthly poetry reading.
The dynamic crew will be sharing pieces from their new anthology, "Despues del Aguacero," a collection of poetry, images, and fliers from this Mission-based reading series, out now on Pochino Press!
We're excited to welcome Lateef McLeod as a featured reader this Saturday! We've been long time fans and he contributed to our latest anthology, "Despues del Aguacero." Checkout his impressive bio!
"Lateef McLeod earned a BA in English from UC Berkeley and an MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. He is a sixth-year graduate student in the Anthropology and Social Change doctoral program at California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.
He published his first poetry book, titled "A Declaration of A Body Of Love," in 2010, chronicling his life as a black man with a disability. He also published another poetry book, entitled "Whispers of Krip Love, Shouts of Krip Revolution," in 2020. He co-authored another book of poetry called "Studies in Brotherly Love" in 2021. He currently is writing a novel tentatively entitled "The Third Eye Is Crying."
He was in the 2007 and 2016 annual theater performances of Sins Invalid and also in their artist-in-residence performance in 2011 entitled "Residence Alien." In 2019 he started a podcast titled "Black Disabled Men Talk" with co-hosts Leroy Moore, Keith Jones, and Ottis Smith. The podcast website is www.Blackdisabledmentalk.com.
In 2022 he was an award recipient of the Wynn Newhouse Award for his long career as a disabled artist. More of his writings are available on his website Lateefhmcleod.com.
We're super excited to once again be part of Oakland's Beast Crawl! This go around we're featuring some our favorites from the Pan Dulce Poets collective, as well as some up and coming writers!
We're extra excited that our readers we're selected to read at . Come hear some great poetry and pickup some great clothing!
For this month's open mic with the Charles Blades Barber Spa we have another great lineup of features! We're honored to host former El Cerrito Poet Laureate danie gabriel and author Lateef McCleod. The inimitable Dizzy Jenkins will be the night's mc.
Since 2019 has hosted a welcoming space that has featured first time readers, award-winning poets and musicians, and even three piece jazz bands! Whether you're testing new material, sharing a favorite, or just coming to listen, come be a part of our community!
is in full effect! Check out their profile for the full schedule of amazing poets and writers.
This Saturday you can catch Norma Smith, Josiah Luis Alderte, hector son of hector, Amalia Alvarez, Lateef McLeod, and Flavia Mora at , celebrating the Pan Dulce Poets anthology.
They've created an amazing community and we're proud that some of that work was captured in this book.
Shoutout to Ricardo Tavarez and Monica Zarazua for the curating and editing!
Come check out Concord's Pride in the Plaza, sponsored by the Rainbow Community Center! Pochino Press author dani gabriel has a booth. Come by and say hi to dani and some of the Pochino Press team. We'll be there 11-5.
There's a great lineup of activities, entertainment, and vendors, and there's no entrance fee! Go to for more details.
We had a great time at dani gabriel's recent reading at the Multicultural Bookstore in Richmond, CA. They shared excerpts of their new book, as well as insights to their writing process in a question and answer session with Pochino Press co-founder Daniel Zarazua.
Richmond Poet Laureate David Flores and his daughter Maya Flores-Mejia opened up the festivities with some of their own work. Good times!
This Thursday-Saturday is the annual San Francisco Flor y Canto Festival! Scroll through to see some of the amazing events and follow to get the full schedule!
Another of our new books is now in stock! Former El Cerrito Poet Laureate dani gabriels' latest touches on the realities of Gen X now: middle age! In this case, the focus is raising teenagers, surviving cancer, and being in the middle of an epic q***r love story.
This Sunday at two, dani is doing a reading as part of a soft release. See next slide for the details!
"Gabriel's poems remind us that our stories are our strength if we are brave enough to share them." Jackie Graves, author of the Intuitive Goddess
What a great time we had at our last open mic collaboration with ! Our features, Brandy Collins and David Flores (Richmond's Poet Laureate), brought the heat, while our MC wove in her own classics.
As a special bonus, we had a special guest band ,The It Thing, make their debut performance! They truly knocked it out of the box with their skills and song selection. We'll have them back! The night ended with a spontaneous hip hop show. Stay tuned for our next show in July!
Shout out to the big boss, Charles Blades. His name is literally on the sign of tomorrow's venue! We've all been real-life friends for years and his barber spa is much more than just a place to get a clean-cut. It's also a community gathering space. Many years ago we first met at a jazz event he was hosting. He invited Pochino Press to co-host events and we're forever indebted to him.
Come through and break bread with this Oakland legend. Forbes recently did a feature on him so feel free to ask for an autograph too! 🤣
We're just a few days away from our next open mic event at the Charles Blades Barber Spa in Oakland. Come share some work, build community, and hear from our featured readers, including Brandy Collins, who's blessed our space many times with humor and witty social commentary. She's a Bay Area treasure!
"Brandy Collins is a writer and public services advocate, born and raised in the Bay Area. She is a 2019-2020 cohort graduate from the Maynard Institute for Journalism, a correspondent for Oakland Voices, a blogger, and the funny one in numerous group chats. She is concerned with civic engagement and leadership development toward making public works more efficient for the people. Brandy is full of Scorpio magic and a self-proclaimed Professional Aunty. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram ."
In less than two weeks we're hosting our next open mic, in partnership with . Come share some words, eat some good food, support some local vendors, and otherwise come soak up some good vibes!
Our first featured reader is ricardo tavarez, whose writings are witty and fun filled, yet full of social commentary in a non-preachy way! Beyond performing ricardo is active behind the scenes in a bumber of areas, including founding the Pan Dulce Reading series in SF's Mission District. He's a fun guy to kick it with too so come and say hi!
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