whale road press
books for
the long
journey
The whale-road is an Anglo-Saxon kenning for the sea. From Kona, Hawai’i, one end of the humpbacks’ ancient migration route, Whale Road Press invites readers to activate their memories of humanity’s original purpose through books that reanimate the English language as a vehicle for practical magic and praise.
Inspired by the Hawaiian concept kaona and the humpbacks’ songs that travel thousands of miles underwater, we publish books that penetrate to the deepest level of meaning, revealing the interconnectedness of all life through an expansive and richly embodied vision grounded in love and respect for all forms of creation.
‘Au I ke kai loa
Swims the distant seas
Piko: A return to the dreaming
by Jennifer Lighty
Now Available
“Jennifer Lighty is the real thing and has done us a great service with Piko. A modern woman working intuitively to contact mythic ground. Her language is fresh and imaginative, her intention five fathoms deep. I’m so glad she exists, and that she has turned some of her life’s work into a gift that we can cradle in our hands and feel the benefit.”
—Martin Shaw, author of Bardskull
“In the Hawaiian language, Piko can be translated as “the very center.” As a society, we understand that before we can make sense of the results of our culture, we must remember the very design of it, or its piko.
Jennifer Lighty, with her provocative “Piko: A Return to Dreaming,” coaxes its readers back into this center and, with masterful literation, weaves the patterns that bleed from this center to result in what we know as the human condition.
Although the core concept is poetic, Lighty expresses this work in such a relatable way that anyone can position themselves as the lead character(s) whom, through the beauty of words, symbols, art, and consequence, truly affirm the core design which all results from.”
—Ke’oni Hanalei, founder
PōHALA Hawaiian Botanicals
The Corpus callosum chronicles
Bridging the gap between imagination and logic.
