On Monday, ZYZZYVA announced the release of Strange Attraction: The Best Ten Years of Zyzzyva, an anthology of fiction, essays, poetry, and dramas published during the journal’s early years (1985–1994) under the leadership of founding editor and legend Howard Junker. A few weeks ago, ZYZZYVA celebrated publishing its 100th issue, and the pub will turn 30 next year. Along with work by Sherman Alexie, Tess Gallagher, and other primarily West Coast writers, the new anthology includes the first short story Po Bronson ever published, “Tracking the Family Beast,” also reprinted on the ZYZZYVA blog here. (And don’t miss our recent interview with ZYZZYVA‘s editors, here.)
As we finish out Pride Month, a bit of sad news for shorter readers of fiction: Nancy Garden, author of the groundbreaking YA novel Annie on My Mind died of a heart attack at the age of 76 on Monday. Annie on My Mind was the first YA novel where two young girls fell in love and came out of it with a happy ending. In 1993, a school district in Olathe, Kansas, physically removed the book from their shelves, a move later ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. Garden also contributed to YA short fiction and nonfiction with her 2007 collection Hear Us Out: Lesbian and Gay Stories of Struggle, Progress, and Hope.
