Defining California in 25 Novels

Can 25 novels capture the spirit, complexity, diversity, and culture of California? Probably not. But Alta Journal gave it a shot! Join Alta and Kepler’s as we kick off the magazine’s new issue with a conversation featuring three of the West’s most exciting authors: Charlie Jane Anders, Rachel Kushner, and José Vadi. These talented (and opinionated) writers will discuss and debate Alta’s top 25, reveal which titles we should have included, and analyze the ingredients that make a novel truly Californian. Moderated by Alta editorial director Blaise Zerega, this interactive event wouldn’t be complete without your input—so come prepared with your Golden State literary expertise.

Program:

6pm: Drinks reception

7pm: Moderated conversation

About the Authors

Charlie Jane Anders is the author of Lessons in Magic and Disaster, coming August 2025 from Tor Books. Her other novels include All the Birds in the Sky, The City in the Middle of the Night, and the young adult Unstoppable trilogy. She’s also the author of the short story collection Even Greater Mistakes and Never Say You Can’t Survive, a book about how to use creative writing to get through hard times. She’s won Hugo, Nebula, Sturgeon, Lambda Literary, Crawford, and Locus awards. She cocreated Escapade, a transgender superhero, for Marvel Comics and wrote her into the long-running New Mutants comic. And she’s currently the science fiction and fantasy book reviewer for the Washington Post. With Annalee Newitz, she cohosts the podcast Our Opinions Are Correct.

Rachel Kushner is the author of The Hard Crowd, her acclaimed essay collection, and the internationally bestselling novels The Mars Room, The Flamethrowers, and Telex from Cuba, as well as a book of short stories, The Strange Case of Rachel K. She has won the Prix Médicis and been a finalist for the Booker Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Folio Prize, and was twice a finalist for the National Book Award in Fiction. Her books have been translated into twenty-seven languages. Her most recent book, Creation Lake, was shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize.

José Vadi is the author of Chipped: Writing from a Skateboarder’s Lens and Inter State: Essays from California. His work has appeared on the PBS NewsHour and in the Paris Review, the Atlantic, the San Francisco Chronicle, Free Skate Magazine, the Yale Review, and Alta Journal.

About the Moderator

Blaise Zerega is Alta Journal’s editorial director. His journalism has appeared in Conde Nast Portfolio (deputy editor and part of founding team), WIRED (managing editor), the New Yorker, Forbes, and other publications. Additionally, he was the editor of Red Herring magazine, once the bible of Silicon Valley. Throughout his career, he has helped lead teams small and large to numerous honors, including multiple National Magazine Awards. He attended the United States Military Academy and New York University and received a Michener Fellowship for fiction from the Texas Center for Writers.

This event is co-presented by Kepler's Literary Foundation and Alta Journal

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Host or Publisher Kepler's Literary Foundation