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Fiction & Poetry

illustrations, fiction, glass house, by jose vadi

Fiction: ‘Glass Houses’

In José Vadi’s sharp, California-rooted short story, a former frontman follows the old circuit—Fresno to Pomona to home—looking for connection, and finding something else.

TTS audio available26 min
two hands holding each other in a natural outdoor setting

Poetry: ‘Bay Area Uta Nikki’

TTS audio available2 min
calm water surface with ripples

Poetry: ‘Smith River (Kaa-nvsh)’

TTS audio available3 min
alta journal, 2025 year in review, top fiction

Alta Journal ’s Fiction of 2025

alta journal, 2025 year in review, top poetry

Alta Journal ’s Poetry of 2025

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victor juhasz, delilah, anita felicelli, illustration

Fiction: ‘Delilah’

TTS audio available21 min
water lilies (agapanthus), claude monet

Poetry: ‘Water Lilies’

TTS audio available2 min
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.

Fiction: ‘Former Colleagues, Nothing More’

TTS audio available34 min
illustration of karyn kupcinet

Fiction: ‘Cookie’

los angeles fires

Poetry: ‘We Are Still Alive in Los Angeles’

TTS audio available3 min
mt tam, marin county

‘The Consecration of Mt. Tam’

TTS audio available3 min
alta journal issue 31, fiction, short story, renaissance mt by bridget quinn

‘Renaissance, MT’

TTS audio available22 min
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’

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

‘Once Upon a Time in the Land of Children’

volcanic eruption

Poetry: ‘In East Los I Am Found’

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poetry background image

Poetry: ‘Teachings’

poetry background image

Poetry: ‘Trespass’

poetry background image

Poetry: ‘NDN Heartbreak Song’

owl

Poetry: ‘Department of Quiet Phenomena’

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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’

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’

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’

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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’

sunflowers

Poetry: ‘Sunflower Poem’

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’

andres guardado

Poetry: ‘Qualifying Animacy’

best of american poetry 2022, james cagney, brenda hillman

Poems Included in The Best American Poetry 2022

marianne wiggins, lara porzak, properties of thirst

You Can’t Save What You Don’t Love

smoky forest

Poem: ‘Friend Poem’

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’