Ajay Orona

Ajay Orona is an associate editor at Alta Journal.  He earned a master’s degree from USC Annenberg’s School of Journalism in 2021 and was honored with an Outstanding Specialized Journalism (The Arts) Scholar Award. His writing has appeared in Los Angeles Review of Books, Ampersand, and GeekOut.

May 2, 2023
Knight Takes Despair

In this newsletter, we analyze author Percival Everett’s references to chess moves in May’s CBC selection, the novel Telephone.

By Ajay Orona
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Apr 27, 2023
Talking with Perri Lynch Howard

A Washington artist considers the influence of place on creativity.

By Ajay Orona
Mar 27, 2023
A Grizzly Bear Comeback?

Researchers show that it is possible to reintroduce the iconic brown bear to California. Will people go for it?

By Ajay Orona
Mar 14, 2023
The Magical Side of Things
In this newsletter, we suggest five works of magical realism from Latin American storytellers to savor after reading March’s CBC select…
By Ajay Orona
Jan 24, 2023
Don’t Call Him Gay Ulysses

In this newsletter, we introduce Less, the February California Book Club selection, which offers the gift of defamiliarization.

By Ajay Orona
Nov 1, 2022
Vision As Moral Act

The Art of Knowing Oneself in Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Gold Coast.

By Ajay Orona
Sep 26, 2022
A Watch Worth the Wait

An obsession with James Bond leads to another obsession: divers.

By Ajay Orona
Sep 6, 2022
A Cacophony of Conjecture
Julie Otsuka’s The Swimmers, the September California Book Club pick, reveals the limits of language and plays with the range of possib…
By Ajay Orona
Jun 29, 2022
Blaze of Glory: The Fate of the International Space Station

Amid global tensions and the expansion of privatized space travel, the ISS may soon fall back to Earth.

By Ajay Orona
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Jun 29, 2022
Getting Away from It All

Take a $5 million three-day getaway to outer space’s hottest hotel.

By Ajay Orona
Jun 29, 2022
Soundtrack of the Stars

Explore a universe of space-themed music with Alta Journal’s Spotify playlist.

By Ajay Orona
Jun 29, 2022
What to Read on Mars

Tesla founder Elon Musk packs a literary punch.

By Ajay Orona
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Jun 29, 2022
Have Space Agent, Will Travel

An archaic career makes a very modern comeback.

By Ajay Orona
Jun 9, 2022
Sins of the Ancestors
After you finish Steph Cha’s Your House Will Pay, our June CBC selection, check out these four titles that also reveal the unrelenting …
By Ajay Orona
Apr 14, 2022
The Sleuth Connection

A former LAPD detective reveals the realities of police work and private investigation.

By Ajay Orona
Apr 4, 2022
The Madness for NFT Art

NFTs are stealing the spotlight and upending the art world. Their next trick: unlocking the metaverse.

By Ajay Orona
Feb 8, 2022
Stay Awhile, Mr. Hughes

Four of Langston Hughes’s poems are in conversation with Natalie Diaz’s Postcolonial Love Poem.

By Ajay Orona
Jan 20, 2022
Welcome to The New Hollywood

Thursday, January 20, 2022

By Ajay Orona
Jan 4, 2022
Street Art Goes Corporate
Boyle Heights’ DoorDash-sponsored murals and the backlash against fnnch’s honey bears reveal the polarizing rifts in the California gue…
By Ajay Orona
Dec 9, 2021
The Authentic Southern California of ‘The Barbarian Nurseries’

Four works that, like Héctor Tobar's novel, depict how the many live in SoCal.

By Ajay Orona
Nov 2, 2021
Resilience Through Storytelling in ‘There There’
Certain insights from Tommy Orange’s debut novel about Urban Indians in Oakland resound across stories of the Armenian genocide as well…
By Ajay Orona
Oct 29, 2021
Talking with Pete Galindo

The resurgence of street murals is exciting, but their popularity may come at a steep price.

By Ajay Orona