For more than 45 years, Bamboo Ridge Press has been telling stories that reflect life and people in Hawaii. Now, Hawaii’s oldest literary press has embarked on an oral history project that turns the lens on its founding editors to tell the story of how it evolved into one of the most important voices for local literature.
“It’s a history told from the people who lived it,” says Donald Carreira Ching, Bamboo Ridge Press author and co-director of the oral history project.
Humble beginnings
Bamboo Ridge Press was founded by Darrel Lum and Eric Chock, friends since small-kid time. While students at the University of Hawaii at Manoa in the 1970s, Lum and Chock realized that the literature they were being taught in classes didn’t resonate with them as Hawaii locals. In 1978, they attended Talk Story, a conference that helped spur the local literature movement. Founded by Arnold Hiura, Stephen Sumida, and Marie Hara, who later became president of Bamboo Ridge Press, the conference was to find out what local literature was all about.
Later that year, Lum and Chock started Bamboo Ridge Press to generate and promote local literature in Hawaii and expose hidden voices and literary talent. In their garage and attic, they’d saddle-stitch journals by hand as their kids played on the ground and delivered publications in their station wagons – all while still working their 9-to-5 jobs.
“It’s really miraculous how this press came to be,” says Carreira Ching.
Bamboo Ridge Press founders Darrel Lum (left) and Eric Chock (right).
You can watch videos, listen to audio recordings, and read transcripts of those origin stories and more at Bamboo Ridge Oral History Project. There’s also a talk story panel with Bamboo Ridge Press authors and stories from local authors who helped shape Hawaii’s literary scene, including Rodney Morales and Wing Tek Lum.
“Bamboo Ridge is one of the first major independent, nonprofit presses in Hawaii,” says Carreira Ching. “This enables them to invest in authentic, underrepresented voices. It allows a lot more freedom to focus on publishing quality literary works.”
Carreira Ching, a professor at Leeward Community College and Ph.D. candidate in English at UH Manoa, credits Bamboo Ridge Press for giving him his start as a writer. In 2016, Bamboo Ridge Press published his first book, Between Sky and Sea: A Family’s Struggle.
Donald Carreira Ching is co-director of Bamboo Ridge Press's oral history project.
Passion project
Bamboo Ridge Press celebrated its 45th anniversary last year with a series of events and a special anniversary journal. The press is looking forward to marking its 50th anniversary as it taps into a new generation of writers.
“Even today, Bamboo Ridge is a passion project and very much grassroots,” says Carreira Ching. “The writers and editors are not doing it for the money. They’re doing it because people want it to continue even after 45 years. The people and writers find community within the Bamboo Ridge space.”
Making a difference
Many Bamboo Ridge Press writers have won national and international literary awards. And while Hawaii continues to break down stereotypes of images created by James Michener novels and TV shows like Hawaii 5-0, Bamboo Ridge’s homegrown writers continue to create authentic stories about Hawaii that impact our communities.
“I want to see them make a difference for the next 45 years,” says Carreira Ching.
Want to get involved with Bamboo Ridge Press?
Submit a story, volunteer for events, and more. You don’t even have to be a writer. You can conduct and transcribe interviews for the oral history project. Learn more.
Bamboo Ridge Press: Books to Read in 2025
Choose from a variety of genres.
History
The Old Timers by Win Tek Lum. Poems about life in Chinatown in the early 1900s.
Mystery
Detective novel series by Scott Kikkawa, including Char Siu and Red Dirt.
Science fiction
Snaring New Suns is a collection of stories and poetry of the supernatural, alternate reality, climate fiction, and more.
Contemporary classic
Kipuka: Finding Refuge in Times of Change is a collection of poetry and prose that explores the challenges of growing up and living in modern Hawaii.
The early years of Hawaii storytelling
Here’s a timeline of other Hawaii publishers compiled by Donald Carreira Ching:
- 2000 – Watermark Publishing is started.
- 1985 – John Dominis Holt founded Ku Paa Press.
- 1981 – Bess Press was started.
- 1978 – Bamboo Ridge Press founded by Darrel Lum and Eric Chock.
- 1976 – Richard and Mark Hamasaki established Elepaio Press.
- 1974 – Mutual Publishing was started.
- 1965 – John Dominis Holt founded Topgallant Publishing.
- 1892 – Bishop Museum Press was established.
- 1888 – Kamehameha School Press, later Kamehameha Publishing, was established.
Read about the history of Pueo Press and Kamaluuluolele Publishers in Finding Meaning: Kaona and Contemporary Hawaiian Literature by Brandy Nalani McDougall.
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Photos courtesy Bamboo Ridge Press
