Santa Monica College will mark the release of the spring 2026 edition of the Santa Monica Review with an issue launch party featuring author readings on Sunday, April 12, from 5 to 7 p.m. in The Edye at the SMC Performing Arts Center, 1310 11th St. at Santa Monica Boulevard.
The event, emceed by Review editor Andrew Tonkovich, will include a welcome by Abby Walthausen and readings by contributors Halina Duraj, Maceo Montoya, Dylan Landis, and Janet Fitch.
The spring issue features 10 original short stories or novel excerpts and one autobiographical essay, with work drawn largely from West Coast writers. The cover features art by Andrea Bowers, whose first museum retrospective was recently shown at the Hammer Museum.
"It's full of irony because, perhaps, we are in such a disingenuous and contradictory moment," Tonkovich said of the issue's themes.
The Santa Monica Review is the only nationally distributed literary magazine published by a U.S. community college and is now in its 38th year. Recent work from the journal has appeared in the Pushcart Prize, Best American Short Stories, and PEN/O. Henry anthologies.
Tickets are a suggested $10 donation, available at smc.edu/tickets. Free parking is available on premises. Seating is first-arrival.
The SMR will also host a booth April 18–19 at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC, Booth #072, offering complimentary copies. The publication is available at smc.edu/sm_review and at the SMC Campus Store, Beyond Baroque, and Small World Books in Venice.
Edited by SMDP Staff