5 Questions for City Lights

by John McMurtrie

City Lights, the San Francisco bookstore cherished the world over, is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. Founded by Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin as the first all-paperback bookstore in the country, the North Beach landmark today stocks a great variety of titles (no longer just paperbacks) on three floors. Elaine Katzenberger, the publisher of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers, has worked at the store since 1987. ZYZZYVA asked her to inaugurate our new weekly feature devoted to independent bookstores. She answered our questions from New York City, where she accepted the National Book Critics Circle’s Toni Morrison Achievement […]

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Watch our City Lights Bookstore Event for Issue 123: The Poetry Issue

by ZYZZYVA Staff

In case you missed it: you can now watch our recent remote event celebrating the release of Issue 123, our Poetry Issue, with iconic San Francisco bookstore City Lights! Enjoy readings by contributors Maggie Millner, Victoria, Adukwei Bulley, Ruth Madievsky, Chris Carosi, and Joan Baranow. The event was emceed by Zyzzyva’s Managing Editor, Oscar Villalon. You can watch it via the embedded video below. […]

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Catch up on two of our most recent events, including an interview with Vanessa Hua

by ZYZZYVA Staff

In case you missed it: we’ve got handy Youtube links for two of our most recent ZYZZYVA-related events, including our Q&A with Vanessa Hua about her latest novel Forbidden City that happened at San Francisco’s The Booksmith on May 18th; as well as our May 19th Q&A with Ecuadorian author Gabriela Alemán about her new collection, titled Family Album: Stories, that occurred at City Lights Bookstore. What could be better than free literary-world entertainment, no? (And if you’re interested in reading more work from Alemán, do secure a copy of our latest issue, Issue 122, to read her story “School […]

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ZYZZYVA Interview Series: R.O. Kwon

by Oscar Villalon

R.O. Kwon’s first novel, The Incendiaries, is published by Riverhead (U.S.) and Virago (U.K.). She is a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, Vice, BuzzFeed, Noon, Time, Electric Literature, Playboy, San Francisco Chronicle, and elsewhere. She has received awards and fellowships from Yaddo, MacDowell, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Born in South Korea, she’s mostly lived in the United States. Kwon recently spoke to ZYZZYVA Managing Editor Oscar Villalon about The Incendaries at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco. […]

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ZYZZYVA Interview Series: Glen David Gold

by Oscar Villalon

Glen David Gold is the author of the bestselling novels Sunnyside and Carter Beats the Devil. His essays, memoir, journalism and short fiction have appeared in McSweeney’s, Playboy, Tin House, Wired, the New York Times Sunday Magazine, the Guardian UK, and London Independent. His most recent book is his memoir, I Will Be Complete (Knopf), portions of which first appeared in ZYZZYVA No. 100 and No. 108. In late June, Gold discussed his new book with Managing Editor Oscar Villalon at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco. […]

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