New California Writing

At a time when common opinion perceives California to be in a state of decline, there grows out of this dire situation something that can only be described as amazingly hopeful. What seem to be falling apart, along with everything else, are old clich?‘s and stale certainties. One senses a willingness to question, to probe, to invent new ways of seeing things, and to create new dreams. Stimulated by what we see on the horizon, Heyday issued an open call for the freshest and most thought-provoking submissions, to be included in a new annual series. Publishers, small presses, literary magazines, specialty journals, and bloggers eagerly responded. Sifting through this response, we discovered articles, fiction, poetry, and even excerpts from memoirs. The variety of voices is dazzling, the range of topics broad, but they all have one thing in common: they all address the California experience with courage, vitality, and intelligence.