Alta Journal was nominated for a National Magazine Award in Fiction from the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME). The National Magazine Awards are considered the magazine industry’s top honors. Alta was recognized for three short stories: “He Dreams About the Bunny Ranch,” by Allie Rowbottom; “Taro,” by Karen Tei Yamashita; and “My Chicano Heart,” by Daniel A. Olivas.
These selections represent the broad spectrum of energetic writing coming out of California and the West: Rowbottom created an intimate tale of a dying wife and her wish to give her husband the gift of sexual release—as well as a release from grief. Yamashita’s fable features a boy on a visionary quest accompanied by a talking turtle. Olivas crafted a magical-realism evocation of a complicated marriage, the sort that involves giving one’s heart (perhaps literally) to another.
“We’re delighted that the ASME judges recognized these extraordinary writers,” says Blaise Zerega, Alta’s editorial director. “A heartfelt congratulations to Allie, Karen, and Daniel on this honor.”
Alta congratulates fellow nominees Freeman’s, the New Yorker, the Yale Review, and the fiction-category winner, the Paris Review. This ASME award “celebrates the historic link between literary fiction and magazine journalism…and honors magazines and magazine websites for overall excellence in fiction.” The National Magazine Awards will be presented on March 28 in New York.•
