News – ZYZZYVA

Limited Time Offer: 3 Issues for $35

by ZYZZYVA

March 25, 2020

Posted on March 25, 2020 (March 25, 2020) by Zack Ravas

With our milestone 35th Anniversary issue shipping soon, the best way to ensure you promptly receive it is if you have a subscription. To make that much easier to do, we’re offering a special deal till this Sunday: Get our next three issues for only $35! The 35th Anniversary Issue features fiction by Bryan Washington, Lysley Tenorio, Kristen Iskandrian, and Peter Orner; poetry by Meg Hurtado Bloom, Troy Jollimore, and Jennifer Richter; nonfiction by Lauren Markham; an interview with Margaret Wilkerson Sexton; and much more. So be safe. Mind the six feet of distance.And get ready for a wonderful issue! […]

35th Anniversary Issue

by ZYZZYVA

March 23, 2020

Posted on March 23, 2020 (March 23, 2020) by ZYZZYVA

ZYZZYVA Volume 36, #1, Spring 2020 (No. 118)

Our 35^th Anniversary Issue. Fiction: Bryan Washington, Lysley Tenorio, Elizabeth Reichert, Santiago José Sánchez, Mark Chiusano, Peter Orner, and Kristen Iskandrian. Nonfiction: Lauren Markham, Dave Madden. Interview: Margaret Wilkerson Sexton talks to John McMurtrie. Poetry: Meg Hurtado Bloom, Lisa Higgs, Troy Jollimore, Debora Kuan, Jennifer Richter, Dujie Tahat, John Sibley Williams, and Emma Winsor Wood. Art: Anne Siems. You can purchase a copy of No. 118 here, or order a subscription to ZYZZYVA now. […]

New Book Releases to Read During Shelter in Place

by ZYZZYVA Staff

March 18, 2020

Posted on March 18, 2020 (March 18, 2020) by Zack Ravas

Readers and friends, we hope you are staying safe during these trying times. We are all adjusting to the societal changes that are taking place due to the impact of COVID-19. It occurs to us that many new book releases have not received the coverage they would have during a normal news cycle, and their authors’ book tours have been cancelled due to safety concerns. As such, we thought we would collect a list of such books here in the hopes of giving them their due attention, with a reminder that you can order from Bookshop.org to support your local […]

Talking Shop: Chia-Chia Lin on Writers’ Workshops, Pitfalls and Inspiration

by Alicia Long

March 2, 2020

Posted on March 2, 2020 (February 27, 2020) by Zack Ravas

Chia-Chia Lin’s debut novel The Unpassing (FSG) was released last year to widespread acclaim (it was named one of the Best Books of 2019 by TIME, The Washington Post, and Esquire). Her short story “Ring Around the Equator, Pockets Full of Acres” was featured in the Bay Area issue. And soon Lin will be teaching a Fiction Workshop that you can apply to now. Lin recently shared her thoughts on the Writers’ Workshop process, as well as some of the pitfalls students can avoid. ZYZZYVA: What do you think a Fiction Workshop can offer writers who feel their piece is […]

The Bay Area Issue: Editor’s Note

by Laura Cogan

November 25, 2019

Posted on November 25, 2019 (January 26, 2020) by editor

One day in July I ran into a colleague on my way to lunch. We commiserated about the state of the world, briefly, and then he asked me if I’d been to the Flower Piano program at the San Francisco Botanical Garden yet. He said he’d just been, and that after one of the professional performers finished her set, a few of the people milling around took turns playing. One played David Bowie’s “Life on Mars,” singing softly under his breath. Another, a child of about ten, played a classical sonata, with astonishing beauty. There’s still art here, he said […]

In the Winter Issue

by ZYZZYVA

November 17, 2019

Posted on November 17, 2019 (March 23, 2020) by ZYZZYVA

New writing from the East Bay to San Francisco, from the North Bay to the Peninsula. Fiction: Charlie Jane Anders, Rita Bullwinkel, Lydia Conklin, Chia-Chia Lin, Nina Schuyler, Michael Sears, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, and Andrew Roe. Nonfiction: Paul Wilner, Gloria Frym, and Lydia Kiesling. Poetry: sam sax, Meg Hurtado Bloom, Luiza Flynn-Goodlett, W.S. Di Piero, Sara Mumolo, Kevin Simmonds, Lady Nestor Gomez, and Matthew Zapruder. Interview: Dodie Bellamy and the late Kevin Killian. Art: Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Janet Delaney. You can purchase a copy of No. 117 here, or order a subscription to ZYZZYVA now. […]

How to help those affected by the California fires

by ZYZZYVA Staff

October 30, 2019

Posted on October 30, 2019 (March 6, 2020) by Zack Ravas

Northern California is once again faced with wildfires. We encourage you to explore this link from the Northern California Grantmakers on ways you can help the many people displaced by the fires. NCG provides a number of options, including vetted wildfire relief and recovery funds such as the Center for Disaster Philanthropy and the Solano Disaster Relief Fund. Please feel free to share links to similar relief efforts in the Comments below. […]

Letter from the Editor – Issue 116

by Laura Cogan

August 30, 2019

Posted on August 30, 2019 (September 3, 2019) by Zack Ravas

Dear Readers, At the risk of stating the obvious, most of us will spend a large portion of our waking hours working. For many people, the work they must do is in tension with the life they want to lead. For others, work is the site of the most profound expression of their life force. Many of us labor somewhere in the middle, as both our work and our sense of self are subject to major change over the course of time. And while work and life are not the same, the sheer number of hours devoted to work (or […]

ZYZZYVA Issue 116 – Now Available for Pre-Order!

by Zack Ravas

August 12, 2019

Posted on August 12, 2019 (August 12, 2019) by Zack Ravas

Dear friends, the newest issue of ZYZZYVA is here! Issue 116 is now available for pre-order, and you won’t want to miss what we have in store for you. You can look forward to a collection of writing on the subject of labor, including fiction by Tommy Orange and Dagoberto Gilb; an interview with Jim Gavin, the creator of AMC’s Lodge 49 (catch the the premiere of Season 2 tonight at 10pm!); and essays by Michael Jaime-Becerra and Michelle Latiolais. You’ll also find poetry by Cedar Brant, Rage Hezekiah, Major Jackson, and Carl Phillips; and more prose by Andrew Altschul, E.K. Ota, […]

In the Fall Issue

by ZYZZYVA

Posted on August 12, 2019 (November 17, 2019) by ZYZZYVA

In this issue: Work Stories “Mrs. Sorry” by Gabriela Garcia: The young woman tending a luxury cosmetics counter knows of ravages beyond the aesthetic. “Wilshire and Grand” by Dagoberto Gilb: A construction worker’s coffee date with an old flame picks at knotty threads of memory. “Session Drummer” by Tommy Orange: More than the studio gigs, it’s managing an unstable father that’s truly challenging. “Todo Se Acaba” by Michael Jaime-Becerra: Working at the same supermarket chain that employs his father fuels Jaime-Becerra’s longing for other ways of being in the world. “Hospitality” by Michelle Latiolais: Every aspect of providing service at […]

ZYZZYVA wins CLMP’s 2019 Firecracker Award for Best Magazine: General Excellence!

by Zack Ravas

June 6, 2019

Posted on June 6, 2019 (March 2, 2020) by Zack Ravas

We’re thrilled and honored to have won CLMP’s 2019 Firecracker Award for Best Magazine: General Excellence! We want to thank CLMP for all they do to support independent publishing; thanks to Poets House for hosting this event; and thank you to all our readers, contributors, and colleagues for inspiring and sustaining us in this work. And congratulations to all the finalists! The event in New York City proved a beautiful night of literary community. […]

America Was Hard to Find

by Kathleen Alcott

May 27, 2019

Posted on May 27, 2019 (May 30, 2019) by editor

Kathleen Alcott is the author of three novels, her newest being America Was Hard to Find (Ecco). Her new book tells the stories of Fay Fern and Vincent Kahn, and in doing so considers the cultural watersheds (such as the anti-Vietnam War movement and NASA’s space program) that occurred over pivotal decades of the United States’ recent history. The following is an excerpt from America Was Hard to Find. Alcott will be in conversation with Managing Editor Oscar Vilallon about her novel at The Bindery in San Francisco on Thursday, May 30. PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA, 1961-1963 Letters from Charlie, unopened, […]