rooted in resistance, culture, and liberation
Grounded in the power of culture, born of resistance, committed to our stories, OCOTE LIBRE PRESS publishes stories that reflect the heart and fire of capturing moments toward a movement.
Featured books
by Rosanna Alvarez
Braided [Un]Be-Longing is the long-anticipated debut collection from the sincere and thought-provoking poet Rosanna Alvarez. The heart-felt compilation offers a glimpse into the collective excavation of journeying toward belonging. This resuscitative body of work reads like a complicated love letter to community, family, and culture. A braided cultural journey across space and time, the meticulously curated collection intricately weaves together the most unanticipated spaces of poetic legacy found in the everyday and in everybody.
2023 International Latino Book Awards Recipient:
Silver Medal for the Juan Felipe Herrera Best Book of Poetry Award
Bronze Medal for Best Cover Design
by José-Ariel Cuevas
Book Description: Do You Still Cry About Your Dead Cat? is a raw and unfiltered journey through the intersections of working-class struggle, cultural identity, and the quiet existential weight of everyday life. Through poetry and prose, José-Ariel Cuevas captures the melancholy of long workdays, the nostalgia of fleeting moments, and the deep reflections that emerge in the liminal spaces of city streets, dimly lit bars, and solitary bus rides. The collection relays the piercing sobering wisdoms borne of generations of tirando al grano, or getting straight to it, where words are worth their weight. With an eye for life’s contradictions—beauty in the mundane, humor in sorrow, and defiance in despair—Cuevas presents a collection that is both deeply personal and universally resonant.
by Cristal González Ávila
In Pedacitos, debut author Cristal González Ávila invites readers into the most intimate fragments of her life’s journey—moments of joy, heartbreak, resilience, and self-discovery. With a voice as crystal clear as a mountain stream, she weaves together bilingual vignettes that capture the raw truth of growing up Chicana, navigating family complexities, and finding liberation through storytelling. Her words, at once tender and powerful, resonate with authenticity, offering a deeply felt narrative of overcoming adversity and reclaiming identity.
Our authors
Rosanna Alvarez is a Chicana storyteller and multifaceted rezongona who writes at the intersections of fury and cariño. She describes her writing as a constant process of re-membering herself whole while translating the living legacy of the stories that have shaped us into who we have become both individually and collectively. She believes in the power of storytelling and self-expression as tools for both personal and collective transformation, with heart in hand, ink to the page, always hollering truths.
José-Ariel Cuevas hails from the vibrant voices and rich stories of East San José, a community that has continuously influenced his perspective and the way he approaches life. From a young age, he has pushed the boundaries of convention, constantly seeking new ways to understand and challenge the world around him. He e is a lifelong independent scholar always striving to learn, with his head in the clouds and his proletariat feet firmly entrenched in the ground.
Cristal González Ávila is the daughter of farmworkers, Campesinos. Born and raised in the migrant farmworker town of Watsonville, she grew up a first generation Chicana, among the berries and manzanas. So much of who she is in her practice as a storyteller is rooted in the culture and community that spans the thousands of miles that separate the Central Mountains of Zacatecas, the coastal climate of Colima, and the Central Coast of California—Watsonville.
Mia Xochil is a poet and storyteller whose work explores identity, healing, and transformation. Her debut collection, Grief, and Other Five-Letter Words, examines how we define and redefine grief—both personally and collectively—while navigating the ever-shifting landscapes of loss and self-discovery. Rooted in the lived experiences of generations before her, Mia’s writing offers a space for reflection, resilience, and connection. Through her poetry, she invites readers to sit with their emotions, challenge preconceived definitions, and embrace the fluidity of their healing journey. Above all, her work highlights the power of community, reminding us that in shared stories and collective resilience, we find strength, solidarity, and the courage to move forward.
Enrique S. Flores is a product of the Alum Rock School district and grew up in East San Jose's "Story & King Neighborhood" until age 26. Enrique S. Flores comes from a working-class/ low-income family. Both Enrique's parents are immigrants, whom arrived to this country in hopes of providing a better future for their children. SCU’s Alumni Association granted Enrique Flores the Ignatian Award in 2010 as the youngest recipient in the University’s history, this award recognizes alumni who live the SCU ideals of Competence, Conscience, and Compassion, and who have been a credit to the Alumni Association and the University through outstanding service to humanity.
More about ocote libre press
Grounded in the power of culture, born of resistance, committed to our stories, Ocote Libre Press publishes stories that reflect the heart and fire of capturing moments toward a movement. We support seasoned and emerging storytellers who simultaneously write from a space of longing toward belonging while challenging the conventions of mainstream publishing.
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