Spotlight on Abalone Mountain Press
By Avery Wood, written December 2025
At Yellow Arrow, we believe in uplifting marginalized voices and supporting the intersection of womanhood with a vast array of identities. And we support all publishers who focus on amplify diverse voices. Abalone Mountain Press is a women-owned independent publishing house owned by Amber McCrary, a Diné woman and a “feminist, zinester, and poet.” McCrary and Abalone Mountain Press were one of Phoenix Magazine’s 2021 “Great 48.” She is a “Red House Clan born for Mexican people—originally from Shonto, Arizona and raised in Flagstaff, Arizona.” She earned her BA from Arizona State University in political science with a minor in American Indian studies and her MFA in creative writing at Mills College.
She is the proud author of Blue Corn Tongue: Poems in the Mouth of the Desert and Electric Deserts! She is also the author of many wonderful multimedia zines, poems, interviews, and art that you can find at ambermccrary.com or at Yellow Medicine Review, Room Magazine, Thin Air Magazine, Poets & Writers Magazine, Turning Points Magazine, The Womanist, and The Navajo Times. Abalone Mountain Press itself is “operated on the traditional lands of the Akimel O'odham and the name Abalone Mountain is inspired by the Diné term (Dookʼoʼoosłííd) for the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff, Arizona, which holds deep sacred significance to the Navajo people as one of the four holy mountains.
Abalone Mountain Press’ slogan is “A Place for Indigenous Writers to Dismantle the Canon.” Through various multimedia works such as chapbooks, zines, anthologies, coloring books, their blog and podcast, and their Abalone Writing Circle, Abalone Mountain Press supports and uplifts Indigenous voices in the Phoenix area and beyond. Their work includes themes like Indigenous culture, mental health, queerness, spirituality, the natural world, Native masculinity, and more. Incredible titles from Abalone Mountain Press (and Indigenous Nations Poets) include The Future Lives in Our Bodies: Indigeneity and Disability Justice, an online zine with authors featuring Jessica Mehta (Cherokee Nation), Rachael Johnson (Diné), Gillian Joseph (Ihaŋktoŋwaŋ and Mdewákhathuŋwaŋ Dakota), Scott Bentley, and Johnnie Jae (Otoe-Missouria and Choctaw), as well as award-winning Two-Spirit storyteller Taté Walker’s poetry collection The Trickster Riots.
As McCrary describes in Abalone Mountain Press’ blog, The Trickster Riots is a collection of poems that “weaponize the English language against colonial normativity and navigate the responsibilities of an urban Two-Spirit writer carrying and empowering the next generations.” Abalone Mountain Press works to lift up Diné voices and is a wonderful place to support Indigenous authors and creators.
Find Abalone Mountain Press at abalonemountainpress.com or on Instagram and Facebook @abalonemountainpress. All quotes within this blog come from the Abalone Mountain Press at abalonemountainpress.com/mission.
Amber McCrary is Diné poet and zinester. She is Red House Clan born for Mexican people. Originally from Shonto, Arizona and raised in Flagstaff, Arizona. She earned her BA from Arizona State University in Political Science with a minor in American Indian Studies. She received her MFA in creative writing with an emphasis in poetry at Mills College. McCrary is also the owner and founder of Abalone Mountain Press, a press dedicated to publishing Indigenous voices. She is a board member for the Northern Arizona Book Festival and Words of the People organizations. She is the Arizona Humanities 2022 Rising Star of the year and a Native Arts and Cultures Foundation LIFT awardee.
Avery Wood (she/her) was the fall 2025 program management intern at Yellow Arrow. She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, and attends North Carolina State University, studying English and business administration. Following graduation, she intends to bring her passion for business and creative writing to the publishing industry. She was thrilled to be a part of the wonderful Yellow Arrow team, making a difference and amplifying female voices.
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