issue 123 Archives

My Ancestors Send Me Screenshots

by Tayi Tibble

December 30, 2022

Posted on December 30, 2022 (December 29, 2022) by Zack Ravas

My ancestors send me screenshots of your group chats dissecting me with all the science of your founding fathers and the sympathy of your murdering mothers wanting to know who I am where I’ve been and who I’ve been with. What the fuck is a whakapapa? Do I carry it in my pussy? In a tiny baggy? Like a real 1? Like a down-ass bitch? Do I have a heart? And does it bleed? Like a steak? If it’s brutalised enough? If it’s served? On a plate? With proper silverware? And presented to your queen still beating would she care? […]

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

by ZYZZYVA Staff

September 14, 2022

Posted on September 14, 2022 (September 13, 2022) by Zack Ravas

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. […]

Watch Our Booksmith Event for Issue 123: The Poetry Issue

by ZYZZYVA Staff

August 4, 2022

Posted on August 4, 2022 (August 3, 2022) by Zack Ravas

In case you missed it: you can now watch our recorded live event with The Booksmith from last week! This event celebrated the launch of Issue 123, the Poetry Issue. Enjoy readings by contributors Colin Winnette, Heather Altfeld, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Troy Jollimore, and Victoria Chang. The event was emceed by Zyzzyva’s Managing Editor, Oscar Villalon. You can watch it via the embedded video below. […]

The Poetry Issue: Letter from the Editor

by Laura Cogan

July 6, 2022

Posted on July 6, 2022 (June 29, 2022) by Zack Ravas

ZYZZYVA No. 123, Spring 2022, The Poetry Issue

Dear Reader, One of the messages we’re most relentlessly bombarded with is the importance of happiness. In so many ways, pop culture cynically suggests that happiness could make us successful, on our own terms. Happiness, it seems, is its own kind of currency. And lack of it becomes yet another reason to punish ourselves. It seems especially cruel that happiness is often elevated as a kind of measure of success that can, theoretically, be achieved, witnessed, and celebrated outside the paradigm of capitalism—as though it’s available to any of us if we only choose it. We absorb the truism that […]