Roan Press, Small Literary Press, Launched in Sacramento, California

Brad Buchanan and his wife, Kate Washington, have launched Roan Press, a small literary press based in Sacramento, California. Buchanan describes this venture as "Sacramento's long-overdue local literary publisher", unrivaled so far by any other within city limits. Roan Press's mission is to introduce readers to what Buchanan calls "deserving, talented and ambitious writers from the greater Sacramento area and beyond." He also pointed out that its purpose is to "publish high-quality books in any genre: poetry, fiction, essays, and memoir." The literary press plans to publish 1-2 books a year, depending on the state of its finances and the nature of available projects.

The press's first publication, a poetry collection entitled "Swimming the Mirror" by Brad Buchanan, is going to be launched at a party to be held at the Book Collector in downtown Sacramento on Wednesday, July 23. Buchanan will be performing poetry from this collection, which contains poetry dedicated to his daughter. The event starts at 7:30 pm. Buchanan will also be holding readings at several Sacramento venues, leading to his big reading event scheduled for August 11 at the Sacramento Poetry Center, which he will share with Texas-based poet Wendy Carlisle.

Roan Press is also already soliciting and reviewing writings and art dealing with (or inspired by) the Nevada City harpist and composer/songwriter Joanna Newsom, and, beyond this, all other submissions can be on any themes.

The new press particularly welcomes submissions from Northern California writers, but is open to work from anyone, anywhere.

Roan Press is going to be the first multi-genre publisher based in Sacramento. Other literary presses have focused on poetry, but the launching of Roan Press will cover a growing need for publishing services in the region.