Rasheeda Saka

At the center of Danzy Senna’s Colored Television is a novelist who wishes to use her work to transform and transcend the confines of her life and personhood.

In this newsletter, Rasheeda Saka looks at Helena María Viramontes’s 1995 debut, which charts the multivaried lives of California agricultural workers.

In this newsletter, we consider how author Javier Zamora charts his coming-of-age as a nine-year-old migrating from El Salvador to the United States.

Laila Lalami’s novel centers the experiences of marginalized characters navigating the challenges of grief, trauma, and betrayal.

Anthony Veasna So’s Songs on Endless Repeat affirms the meaning of legacy and art-making.

In this newsletter, we look at the December California Book Club selection, Carribean Fragoza’s story collection, Eat the Mouth That Feeds You, which muses on what it means to exist while straddling the bounds between life and death in a patriarchal world.

Jennifer Egan’s speculative novel reconfigures how one should think about connection and intimacy.

The award-winning author and illustrator tells Alta Journal why he enjoys keeping work in the family.

The author of Deep As the Sky, Red As the Sea reveals which writer she most wants to read (and enjoy) her new book.

Author of a previous California Book Club selection, Tobar’s latest title speaks to the hurt and anger of young Latino people.

In this newsletter, Alta Journal contributor Rasheeda Saka examines how land and labor exploitation fueled radical solidarity among Mexicans and Mexican Americans, as related in the California Book Club’s September pick.

In this newsletter, Alta Journal contributor Rasheeda Saka considers the way mystery as a genre enriches our experience of excavating personal and national histories.

In Light Skin Gone to Waste, Toni Ann Johnson depicts the cost of upward mobility.

In Rock of Eye, Troy Montes-Michie refashions the dominant gaze upon Black masculinity.

Lynell George on A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky.

C Pam Zhang on reimagining the West in How Much of These Hills Is Gold.

The latest issue of John Freeman’s eponymous literary journal features talented storytellers.

Walter Mosley returns to noir with Blood Grove.

This week’s California Book Club newsletter: Dana Johnson, Naomi Hirahara, and Lisa Wells.

This week’s California Book Club: Michael Schaub, Vendela Vida, and Rebecca Handler.

Dana Johnson’s debut novel was a tremendous literary success. Let’s see what a few book critics had to say about it.

This week’s California Book Club newsletter: Dana Johnson, Maggie Shipstead, and Rachel Syme.

Let’s take a close look at the opening of the California Book Club’s August 2021 selection.

This week’s California Book Club newsletter: Anthony Veasna So, Octavia E. Butler, and Richard Lange.

Here are five titles that pair well with Dana Johnson’s Elsewhere, California.

This week’s California Book Club newsletter: Dana Johnson, Anita Felicelli, and Katie Kitamura.

This week’s California Book Club newsletter: Danny Trejo, Lisa Taddeo, and Ben H. Winters.

The author of Barbarian Days admits that surfing can be “self-indulgent to the max” and “also kind of ascetic,” but one pursues it “to the bitter end.”

This week’s California Book Club: Matt Bell, Rodrigo García, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

Let’s take a close look at the opening of the California Book Club’s July 2021 selection.

This week’s California Book Club newsletter: William Finnegan, Alexandra Huynh, and James Ellroy.

Here are seven titles that pair well with William Finnegan’s Barbarian Days.

This week’s California Book Club newsletter: William Finnegan, Jonathan Evison, and Michael Szalay.

This week’s California Book Club newsletter: Keenan Norris, Joan Didion, and Stephen Kessler.

The author of Voyage of the Sable Venus believes that the craft of poetry is about fostering trust with readers.

This week’s California Book Club: Rosecrans Baldwin, Otis Redding, and Lisa Taddeo.

The author of Voyage of the Sable Venus believes that poetry is and should remain accessible to everyone.

This week’s California Book Club newsletter: Robin Coste Lewis, Maria Hummel, and Harmony Holiday.

Let’s take a close look at the opening of Alta Journal’s CBC June 2021 selection.

Here are six titles that pair well with Robin Coste Lewis’s Voyage of the Sable Venus.

This week’s California Book Club newsletter: Robin Coste Lewis, Michel Foucault, and Grant Faulkner.

This week’s CBC newsletter: Joy Lanzendorfer, Rachel Kushner, and Ben H. Winters.

The author of The Mars Room wanted to depict “the texture of the present and what it feels like.”

This week’s California Book Club: Marisa Silver, Trevor Shikaze, and David L. Ulin.

How Rachel Kushner brings difficult and heartbreaking narratives of incarcerated people to a poignant conclusion.

This week’s California Book Club newsletter: William Finnegan, Dana Johnson, and Rebecca Solnit.

The role of Ted Ked Kaczynski's disturbing diary entries in Rachel Kushner’s novel.

How Rachel Kushner conveys the realities of incarcerated people.

This week’s California Book Club newsletter: CBC Clubhouse, May releases, and a podcast.

Let’s take a close look at the opening of Alta’s CBC May 2021 selection.

Here are five titles that pair well with Rachel Kushner’s The Mars Room.

This week’s California Book Club newsletter: Rachel Kushner, Gina Frangello, and Kaoru Takamura.

This week’s California Book Club newsletter: The Mars Room, The Hard Crowd, and Promising Young Woman.

The author of Mean discusses oral storytelling traditions, Santa Maria, and writing against literary convention.

This week’s California Book Club newsletter: R.O. Kwon, Anthony Veasna So, and Douglas Stuart.

Let’s consider the historical context of Gurba’s 2017 memoir.

This week’s California Book Club newsletter: Myriam Gurba, Allen Ginsberg, and C Pam Zhang.

A close look at violence, metaphor, and setting in the opening of this month’s California Book Club selection.

Five books that pair well with Myriam Gurba’s Mean.

This week’s California Book Club newsletter: Mean, You’re Leaving When?, and Soul.

This week’s California Book Club newsletter: Mean, Nina Revoyr, and Laura Tohe.

The author of Southland discusses the importance and impermanence of Los Angeles.

This week’s California Book Club: special-guest announcement, Denise Hamilton, and Jo Ann Beard.

Let’s take a close look at the initial sentences of this month’s CBC selection.