‘Grand Avenue’

At the core of Greg Sarris’s Grand Avenue: A Novel in Stories are the lives of multiple generations of related Pomo Indians, who live in old barracks along the titular street in Santa Rosa. Many of the tales are voice-driven and delve into how past encounters surge up in protagonists’ memories and become pertinent to the present. In “The Magic Pony,” a teenage girl loves a horse set to be slaughtered and teaches it to do tricks. “Waiting for the Green Frog” centers an older woman, a basket weaver, who sings and dances to heal patients. The narrator of “Joy Ride” is a part-Portuguese man who is drawn to think about mixed identity. “Secret Letters” concerns a man who becomes obsessed with the son he never recognized as his own. This heartfelt collection, streaked at times with a kind of magic, weaves themes of complicated family relationships, hidden truths, conflicting identities, and storytelling into a meaningful consideration of difficult lives.

AUTHOR GREG SARRIS IN CONVERSATION WITH JOHN FREEMAN

When: Thursday, February 19, 2026, 5 p.m. Pacific time.
Format: Freeman will lead a free hour-long conversation with Sarris, which will include a reading by him and questions from the audience. Produced by Alta Journal for streaming on Zoom.