Red Hen Press Associate Publisher Mark Cull, Red Hen Press Publisher & Executive Director Kate Gale, and Red Hen Press Associate Editor Tobi Harper Petrie at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Featured Authors Lara Ehrlich, Elise Paschen, and Adela Najarro at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Wally Rudolph and Malia Márquez at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Emmett Abrams, Douglas Manuel, Michelle Bitting, Anders Carlson-Wee, Lea Burkenroad, and Francesca Bell at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Nancy Kricorian and Claire Collette at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Raine Revere, Liz Dubelman, and Francesca Lia Block at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
TJ and Michelle Tea at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Featured Author Elise Paschen and Katie Ford at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Julie Ingalls, Pete Hsu, and Helen Hsu at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Marya Hornbacher and Amara Weitzman at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Lory Badikian, Kirsten Boles, Aparna Mukherjee, and Stephanie Deide at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Natalie Lydick and Madeleine Nakamura at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Vivian Godoy Rodriguez, Rey Rodriguez, Luis Rodriguez, and Trini Rodriguez at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Red Hen Press Associate Publisher Mark Cull and Yvonne Liu at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Shamar Hill, Rachel Lipsky, and Matt Gellman at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Rita Azar and Roseanne Ziering at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Francisco Aragon, Featured Author Adela Najarro, and William Archila at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Timo Gorner and Cindy Ballard at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Jared Weikart, Elise Capron, Florencia Ramirez, and Michael Rodriguez at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Steve and Margaret Finnegan at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Alley Horn, Michelle Grodnick, and Lia Raiss at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Louise Ritchie and Bianca Richards at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
Brian Biery, Angelique Pretorius, Matt Steinauer, and Steve Harper at Red Hen Press' 31st Benefit Evening Gala at Grand Venue [Paul Takizawa/Pasadena Now]
At the Grand Venue in Los Angeles, the tables glowed softly under luminous uplights, and the room hummed with the warm chatter that happens when people who spend most of their days alone—writers, editors, readers—finally come together. The occasion was the 31st annual Red Hen Press Benefit, a family dinner of sorts for one of the West Coast’s most stalwart independent publishers.
Outside, on the venue’s posh terrace, poet Elise Paschen introduced herself with what she called “an ingenue’s” delight—her first Red Hen gala. “I’m just so honored to be one of the featured authors,” she said, beaming. Paschen’s new collection, Blood Wolf Moon, takes a deep dive into her Osage ancestry, incorporating the Osage language itself. “Mark Cull created this beautiful broadside of one of my poems,” she said. “It includes the Osage Nation’s orthography, and I think it’s the first time Red Hen has used the language of an Indigenous nation in their books.”
That milestone felt right for a press that has long published stories outside the mainstream current. Founded in 1994 by Kate Gale and Mark Cull, Red Hen has become a kind of literary oasis in Pasadena—one part community center, one part daredevil arts collective. Gale, the publisher, in an interview before the sumptuous dinner, described the evening as “a way for us to be part of the Pasadena community, to celebrate with Pasadena, to thank the Pasadena community for having us here.”
Still, being an independent press “is a very challenging thing, particularly on the West Coast,” she admitted, acknowledging that the Press is still ever-growing. “In New York, there are so many ways presses can help each other… We feel like we’re kind of alone out here.” But for this night, Gale said, “it feels like we’re in conversation with other people who love books. For this moment—for this night—I think we’re going to be okay.”
The sentiment carried through the readings. Adela Najarro, author of Variations in Blue, reminded the audience that “we’re living in a tumultuous time in history.” From the stage, she noted how Red Hen “publishes the complex stories of our lives, not just one story.” Through that commitment, her own work found unexpected reach: a California book tour, an appearance at an international poetry festival, and course adoptions at universities across the country.
And then there was Lara Ehrlich, who thanked the press for taking a chance on her first book. “They don’t go for the easy books or the guaranteed commercial successes,” she said. “They publish strange books, the difficult ones, the ones that don’t fit neatly on the shelf.” Ehrlich spoke about literature’s power to make sense of the unsayable: “Stories give voice to what is often unsayable. They help us face grief, imagine new ways through despair, to be brave when the world feels overwhelming.”
By the end of the evening, that bravery looked a lot like community. “We’re in every sense of the word a family,” Ehrlich said, smiling at the audience. “Which makes tonight a family dinner.”
For a small press that lives on grace, gratitude, and grit, it felt like just the right toast.
