OC: A Literary Field Guide in Coast magazine

More good news for Rebel Girl's published sabbatical project, this time in the glossy pages of Coast magazine:

The OC literary scene comes of age (finally) by Cynthia Romanowski

excerpt:

In February, Berkeley-based Heyday Books released “Orange County: A Literary Field Guide,” an anthology of writing about OC compiled by husband-and-wife team Andrew Tonkovich and Lisa Alvarez.Tonkovich and Alvarez met at Long Beach State in the ’80s and have been together for more than 30 years, 20 of which they’ve spent in Orange County. They both grew up in Southern California, hold MFAs in creative writing from UCI, and are writers, professors and political activists.

The collection offers a rich glimpse into history, with more than 400 pages of journalism, poetry and fiction, including previously published work by Joan Didion, Philip K. Dick, Steve Martin, Michael Chabon, E.L. Doctorow, Susan Straight and several UCI alums.

“Our fondest wish,” write Alvarez and Tonkovich in the anthology’s introduction, “is that our literary field guide helps you find where you are, where we are, where others have been and also perhaps where we might go from here.”

The editors spent five years researching and assembling the collection. Brief introductions to each piece offer context and a deeper understanding of each author’s place in the larger constellation of literary SoCal.

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