45th Anniversary: Bamboo Ridge Issue 124

Bamboo Ridge Press founding editors Eric Chock and Darrell H. Y. Lum return with Juliet S. Kono to curate a new anniversary anthology celebrating 45 years of literary mischief-making in Hawaiʻi. With contributions from sixty-eight talented writers, Bamboo Ridge Issue #124 features poems and stories that explore themes of cultural identity, art, resistance, and community. It’s a collection that honors the resilience of local storytelling and Hawaiʻi’s literary spirit, reaffirming Bamboo Ridge’s commitment to foster, embrace, and preserve AANHPI voices. With over 400 pages, Issue #124 is one of the largest in the press’s history. The cover art is inspired by an original photo taken by Darrell Lum in 1978 of the East O‘ahu fishing spot known as Bamboo Ridge, where hand-painted warnings adorned the rocky path. He titled the photo “Abunai,” the Japanese word for “dangerous.” The choice of “Abunai” as the cover theme pays homage to the nonprofit publisher’s audacious beginnings. At its inception, Bamboo Ridge Press embarked on a mission that many considered “abunai,” opposing dominant narratives and stereotypes about Hawaiʻi and its people and taking a daring stand on the importance and value of local literature. The challenges faced in those early days have persisted as Bamboo Ridge Press remains dedicated to publishing works by, for, or about the people of Hawai‘i and the Pacific—often making waves and navigating financial precarity.