The sun set on Alta Journal’s issue party—both literally and figuratively—this week. The event, packed with 70-plus attendees, marked the final issue party of the year. Contributors, Alta staff, and literature enthusiasts joined Alta at Santa Monica’s Diesel, a Bookstore on Wednesday evening to celebrate the magazine’s Issue 25, “Write.,” which was dedicated to writers of all styles and mediums. Alta editorial director Blaise Zerega kicked off the evening alongside Diesel bookseller Joseph Staraci by walking through the issue’s contents and welcoming not just the evening’s readers but the many familiar faces in the crowd. “It’s all about each other,” Zerega said. “Enjoy each other’s company, some good wine and some good company.”
Alta books editor and author David L. Ulin read a selection from his new present-day-set, noir-inspired novel, Thirteen Question Method. Ulin, who also appeared at Alta’s Issue 25 party in San Francisco, shared the first scene, in which the main character grapples with his divorce and the intrigue of a blue-haired and stylish neighbor.
Author Jonathan Lethem took attendees back in time and across the country with a portion of his latest book, Brooklyn Crime Novel. For fans of his 2003 novel, The Fortress of Solitude, Lethem returned to the infamous Dean Street, and his reading gave us an amusing glimpse into a millionaire’s new family home in the area in the 1970s through the eyes of a group of young boys.
Hilarious contributors Stacey Grenrock Woods and Gustavo Arellano brought Alta’s Ask a Californian column to life by responding to newly submitted subscriber questions—in person and in real time. The pair tackled everything from the appropriateness of Zillow-ing your friends’ homes to business-travel etiquette in their first live appearance together. Ask a Californian will continue to solve the quirky quandaries we face in the Golden State when Woods and Arellano appear on Alta Live on November 8 at 12:30 p.m. Pacific time. (Join us!)
As Zerega moderated the evening’s Q&A session, the conversation turned to a classic argument: Los Angeles versus New York City or San Francisco—as well as the writers and books that capture California culture.
Arellano had a message for the writers in the room as the event drew to a close. “As a writer, you have to be a shameless self-promoter,” he said. “You’re always taught [that] you shouldn’t humblebrag about what you write—but [then] how else are other people going to do that?”
After the main event, attendees mingled under the stars and twinkling lights of the Diesel patio. Writer and Alta subscriber Jamie Wolf attended not only as a fan and friend of Ulin and Lethem but also as an individual deeply involved in the writing world of the city: “There’s a larger literary community [in Los Angeles] than people know.”
Alta contributor and writer Justin Chapman said he discovers the city’s literary community at Alta events. “This journal brings together some of the best writers and [fosters] a community of readers and writers,” he said. “The publishing industry and journalism are…such a bleak landscape, [but] Alta is forging this brave path forward and setting an example of what it could look like.”
Author and screenwriter Howard A. Rodman liked the “spirit” of the event. When asked if he was an Alta subscriber, he said no, but added that “after this evening, maybe that will change.”
Want in on Alta issue parties as we ramp them up again in the new year? Sign up for our Weekly and Live Events newsletters to stay in the loop on Alta’s literary happenings across the state and beyond.•
