ZYZZYVA. This attractive quarterly subtitles itself “the...

ZYZZYVA. This attractive quarterly subtitles itself “the last word: west coast writers and artists,” but it suffers no creative starvation because of its regionalism. ZYZZYVA features a well-balanced and accessible mix of poetry, fiction and artwork, including photography. The poetry tends toward the terse and demotic; the prose has a wider stylistic range, though it too leans toward brevity. Aside from the editorial specification that all artwork be “originally done in black-and-white,” this part of the magazine probably covers the widest territory (they’ve even included architects’ portfolios).

Among the pleasant and unusual aspects of ZYZZYVA are the editor’s informative introductory notes and comments, which stamp the magazine with a definite personality, and the often amusing, sometimes critical excerpts from Letters to the Editor, printed on the back cover. ZYZZYVA is also laudably attentive to new young voices.

ZYZZYVA, 41 Sutter, Suite 1400, San Francisco, CA 94104; $7 per issue, $20 for four issues.