Pownal Street Press is thrilled to announce the April 2027 release of Don’t Call Me Jotín: A Mother & Son Journey, the debut memoir from author Abel Olivas.
Don’t Call Me Jotín: A Mother & Son Journey
ISBN: 9781997918165
$29.95CAD | Paperback
Release Date: April 13, 2027
Cover art by Erin Craig
Before he knew the language for who he was, Abel Olivas knew the names he was called.
Raised in a Mexican American family of ten children, Abel came of age in a world shaped by poverty, faith, and the unwritten codes of masculinity. In a home where survival often took precedence over self-expression, silence became both refuge and burden. At the centre of Abel’s story is his mother — a woman of remarkable strength and sacrifice, even as her understanding of courage, faith, and masculinity challenged the person Abel was becoming.
As he confronts the realities of alcoholism, machismo, and internalized shame, Abel is forced to reckon with the distance between the life expected of him and the life he longs to claim. What unfolds is not only a journey toward self-acceptance, but a tender and complicated portrait of a mother and son learning to meet one another across generations of fear, misunderstanding, and through homophobia.
Pownal Street Press’s social purpose is to publish brave stories, and this is a memoir we couldn’t put down,” says Mo Duffy, Editorial Director. “The longing and vulnerability identified here is one that is shared by anyone who has ever wanted to belong.”
Don’t Call Me Jotín is a luminous memoir about identity, and the enduring bonds of family. With honesty and grace, it traces the path from self-loathing to self-love, revealing how truth can emerge from silence and how love, though imperfect, can become a bridge toward healing.
At once intimate and universal, this is a story of what it costs to hide, what it takes to be seen, and what becomes possible when we finally allow ourselves to live in the light.
About the Author
Abel Olivas has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The University of Notre Dame, and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Currently, he works as a high school Spanish teacher in San Jose, CA, where he presents his story in talks to the student body geared toward LGBTQ+ advocacy and publishes newsletters created by the school’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance, an organization he has advised for over twenty-six years. His own works of nonfiction have won several prizes, including one judged by Richard Rodriguez. Don’t Call Me Jotín is his first book. To learn more about Abel’s story, please follow his substack at https://abelolivas.substack.com/
Pownal Street Press is PEI’s newest publishing house. Women-owned and women-led, friendly, warm and professional: We exist to give rise to brave stories, and to be a light for community and connection. With distribution through Raincoast Books (Canada) and Orca Books (US), Pownal Street Press’ titles have national reach but local heart. For more information about the Press and its books, please visit: www.pownalstreetpress.com.