About Us

---

El Polín Press is a boutique publishing house based in San Francisco's historic Presidio, dedicated to literary fiction and narrative nonfiction that captures the soul of the city and the wider Bay Area. We believe the best stories are rooted in place - in the fog that rolls through the Golden Gate, the neighborhoods that pulse with distinct character, and the layered histories that make San Francisco unlike anywhere else. Our mission is to publish work that honors the literary traditions of this region while pushing them forward, celebrating both established and emerging voices who understand that place isn't just setting, it's character.  

Our inaugural author is Keith Bran, whose work exemplifies everything El Polín Press stands for. His Califia Sagas reimagine 1845 Yerba Buena - San Francisco's original name - as a place where magic and manifest destiny collide, where alchemists walk streets that would become the Financial District, and where the mythology of the American West gets rewritten with wonder and complexity. His Strawberry Valley stories bring magical realism to rural Northern California, exploring small-town transitions with the same care for place and mythology. In his collection Ephemera, Bran weaves personal memoir with fantasy, creating a meditation on loss, gratitude, and the ephemeral moments that define our connection to landscape and memory. Living in the Presidio's woods with his family, Bran writes from deep within the geography he explores.  

We're a small operation with big ambitions - committed to producing beautiful books, building authentic relationships with readers and booksellers, and proving that independent publishing can thrive by staying true to a clear vision. El Polín Spring, the historic watering hole in the Presidio that gives us our name, has sustained travelers for centuries. We hope to do the same for readers seeking stories that matter, rooted in the places we call home.