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Fiction & Poetry

a man sits on the rooftop of a sinking house in the middle of a vast blue lake, his body hunched in reflection. above, two eyes watch from the clouds.

Short Fiction: ‘Former Colleagues, Nothing More’

California-based educator Maceo Montoya pens a short story about a professor’s unplanned run-in with an accused former colleague.

illustration of karyn kupcinet

Fiction: ‘Cookie’

los angeles fires

Poetry: ‘We Are Still Alive in Los Angeles’

mt tam, marin county

‘The Consecration of Mt. Tam’

alta journal issue 31, fiction, short story, renaissance mt by bridget quinn

‘Renaissance, MT’

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year in review, 2024, poetry

Alta Journal’s Poetry of 2024

year in review, 2024, fiction

Alta Journal’s Fiction of 2024

hotel building with palm tree and neon sign against a gradient sky, david ulin, poem, hotel peculiar

Poetry: ‘Peculiar Hotel’

volcanic eruption

Poetry: ‘In East Los I Am Found’

once upon a time in the land of children, illustration, victor juhasz, jane vandenburgh

‘Once Upon a Time in the Land of Children’

poetry background image

Poetry: ‘Teachings’

poetry background image

Poetry: ‘Trespass’

poetry background image

Poetry: ‘NDN Heartbreak Song’

owl

Poetry: ‘Department of Quiet Phenomena’

taco truck

Poetry: ‘Taco Trucks, Every Corner’

wendy carmel, carmel wendy

Fiction: ‘Wendy Carmel, Carmel Wendy’

illustration, sylvia browning, fiction, chinese school

Fiction: ‘Chinese School’

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detail of light gray clouds on an overcast day, may gray, jia rui cook

Poetry: ‘May Gray’

yadi liu, tayi tibble, ocean memory

Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa: Ocean Memory

poem, luis j rodgiguez, eastside of all eastsides

Poetry: ‘The Eastside of All Eastsides’

draymond green, stephen curry, warriors

Poetry: ‘The Warriors. Never Count Them Out’

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fiction, dagoberto gilb, prima

Fiction: ‘Prima’

moon, california villanelle, dean rader

Poetry: ‘California Villanelle’

1969 red chevrolet camaro, low front end grill, poem, cynthia cruz

‘Self-Portrait in Parked Red Camaro’

alta journal, year in review 2023, poetry

Alta Journal’s Poetry of 2023

mailman, fiction, illustration

Fiction: ‘The Mailman’

poem, hands, fourth day in san francisco

Poetry: ‘The Fourth Day in San Francisco’

poem, night sky, tayi tibble

Poetry: ‘Wayfinders’

magda’s hen illustration

Fiction: ‘Magda’s Hen’

wwii soldiers

Poetry: ‘Yesterday’s Newsreel Was Chasing Me’

grapevines

New Poetry by Jane Hirshfield

breakdown in the right lane, illustration

Fiction: ‘Breakdown in the Right Lane’

bike crash

Poetry: ‘Supernova’

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sunflowers

Poetry: ‘Sunflower Poem’

poetry

Alta Journal’s Top Poetry of 2022

peter orner, jimmy, victor juhasz

Fiction: ‘Jimmy’

bullets

Teach Your Children to Remain Small and Invisible

writer mike davis

For Mike Davis

my chicano heart, daniel a olivas

Fiction: ‘My Chicano Heart’

colored light background

Poetry: ‘A Brief History of Pomona House Parties’

dying patient

Poetry: ‘grief logic #6’

margaret burbidge

Poetry: ‘Lady Stardust’

rain break sky

Poem: ‘Rain Break’

morning sky

Poem: ‘Echoes’

taro, karen tei yamashita, victor juhasz

New Fiction: ‘Taro’

san francisco in fog

Poem: ‘Fog Poem Number 71’

foggy hills

Poetry: ‘Friendship’

he dreams about the bunny ranch illustration

Fiction: ‘He Dreams About the Bunny Ranch’

night time sky

Poem: ‘Take to the Days a Fist of Starlight’

shadows of people holding hands

Poem: ‘Our Son Comes Over’

year in review, poetry

Alta Journal’s Top Poetry 2021

year in review, fiction

‘Alta Journal’ Fiction 2021

sleep nights

New Fiction: ‘Sleep Nights’

bees collect pollen from a sunflower on july 25, 2017 near bergheim, western germany afp photo dpa oliver berg germany out photo credit should read oliver bergdpaafp via getty images

Poem: ‘[chiasmus with all the other animals]’

poppies

Poem: ‘[trance poem with the gray stone]’

dandelion blowing seeds in the sky

Poem: ‘[to the voice of the age]’

larry eigner, joanne kyger

‘(Water/Places/A Time)’

oreo arroyo, vanessa hua

‘Oreo Arroyo’

andy warhol, last supper

‘Cancel Culture (The Bardo)’

ada limón

Poem: Calling Things What They Are

ada limón

Poem: The First Lesson

the last lady of california illustration, victor juhasz

The Last Lady of California

stillwater cove poem, ada limón

Poem: Stillwater Cove

mia nolting

Poem: How to Draw the Horizon

poet, james cagney

Preface to a Photograph —Delano, CA 1976