By Lookout Staff
March 26, 2026 -- Santa Monica College (SMC) will release the Spring 2026 issue of its celebrated national literary magazine next month, inaugurating its 38th year of publication.
The latest issue of the Santa Monica Review (SMR) -- which once again features the work of familiar West Coast writers "tackling intimate topics" -- includes 10 original short stories or novel excerpts and one autobiographical essay.
To celebrate the latest biannual issue, the school will hold a launch party featuring readings by SMR authors on Sunday, April 12, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in The Edye at the SMC Performing Arts Center at 11th Street and Santa Monica Boulevard.
The event features readings from three novels and an essay by four contributors to the current issue.
Halina Duraj reads from her novel-in-progress, "The Family Cannon," which focuses on the "recollections of a child of immigrants confronting powerful contradictions of class and identity in detailed, moving, and poignantly ironic episodes."
Dylan Landis shares a chapter from her newest novel, "List of All Possible Desires," while Maceo Montoya, an artist and fiction writer, "shares a defining real-life episode in the experience of a young reader" in his essay "Preparatory Notes for Future Masterpieces," event organizers said .
Fitch, an acclaimed novelist, shares an excerpt from her latest novel, "Chimes of a Lost Cathedral, which "captures the lonely life of a much-compromised, if weirdly heroic character choosing isolated comfort (a rent-controlled apartment) over love."
The Spring issue features an incongruous mix of stories tied together by irony, said editor Andrew Tonkovich, who will emcee the event.
“Irony is indeed the theme or through-line of the new issue, in which authors seem to assess or reassess what passes for disappointment or tragedy, finding even more of it in the poor life choices of their characters," Tonkovich said.
The stories "are artful and often funny, offering wisdom, insight, and opportunity," he said. "They offer both verisimilitude and imagination. Characters consider their choices for redemption, or at least revelation and self-recognition.”
Tickets for the launch party -- available at smc.edu/tickets -- cost a suggested donation of $10. Refreshments will be served. Abundant free parking is available on the premises. Seating is on a first-arrival basis.
Additional events scheduled to celebrate the new issue are listed on the SMR website, where issues of the magazine can be bought online. The Review is also available at the SMC Campus Store, at Beyond Baroque and Small World Books in Venice, and at other area booksellers.
The publication costs $14 per issue or $25 for the two issues each year. For more information visit SMR's website or call 949-235-8193. All events are subject to change or cancellation without notice.