"This comprehensive and gorgeous book is so full of reverence for the prettier flying insects in our midst, so lacking in pretension, and so easy to understand, it’ll inspire even the most fervent city-dwellers to get outside and find the little buggers."

This book is a love letter to Ocean Beach—a place of natural wonder, a refuge from urban life, and a reminder of our place in the larger ecosystem. buff.ly/ojBgQgn

"What’s most compelling about the work gathered here is what it has to say about the present and the future of California’s restless and insurgent literature," writes @altajournal.bsky.social, "At the book’s heart is the necessary notion that literature is dynamic, living, that it changes as we do."

Herbalist Atava Garcia Swiecicki spent decades gathering traditional knowledge of curanderismo, and in 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙭 𝙏𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙩 she offers readers the tools to begin their own healing—for themselves, for their relationship with the earth, and for the people. Now available in audiobook.

“It’s more than 80 years since our incarceration and the effects of it are still impacting my community,” says Satsuki Ina, who shares the story of her family's unconstitutional incarceration during WWII in 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙤𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙞𝙡𝙠 𝙂𝙞𝙧𝙡. “To imprison children, in particular, is inhumane and damaging.”

“What this place, what Heyday has allowed me to do is to create a real community, to be really useful, to create a home for certain people and certain ideas,” said Malcolm, “That’s the role of a publisher, furthering others.”

Discover California's show-stopping public lands, our collectively owned wild places, through the eyes of Josh Jackson, author of 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙙. He's joined by @michellefullner.bsky.social of the Golden State Naturalist podcast @pointreyesbooks.bsky.social this weekend. buff.ly/jH1twaN

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙙 author Josh Jackson shares the unexpected beauty he discovered exploring California's vast public wilderness and the lost art of slowing down. Tune in:

"While many flock to California’s national parks, often forgotten are the state’s 15 million acres managed by the BLM. Josh Jackson writes about them thoughtfully in 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙙. Campers don’t need reservations, and this book just might have readers packing their gear."

The very day he was diagnosed with HIV, Liam O’Brien picked up a butterfly field guide. Quickly, his budding hobby became a full-fledged obsession.

This fall Heyday debuts a sumptuously photographed art book that showcases the wild beauty and biodiversity of the birds of the Greater Bay Area and the conservation dilemmas they face.

In 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝘾𝙖𝙡 Tony Platt looks unflinchingly at UC Berkeley's complicity in advancing eugenics, Manifest Destiny, and American imperialism from its integral role in the Indian Wars to the Manhattan Project and beyond. Now available in audiobook.

Tonight at Clio's (📍 Oakland, CA) Charles Hood, author of 𝘿𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙃𝙮𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙇𝙖𝙯𝙖𝙧𝙪𝙨 𝘽𝙞𝙧𝙙𝙨 is joined by award-winning journalist @marissaortegawelch.bsky.social, for a conversation about the ghosts of the Pacific and all of the wondrous, strange life that calls it home. Grab a cocktail and join us:

Can Californians meet the challenges posed by encroaching tides and rising seas? Journalist @rosannaxia.bsky.social shares findings from her book 𝘾𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙖 𝘼𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙚𝙖 with @altajournal.bsky.social today at 5 pm PST. Register for this virtual roundtable here:

Knopf Editor John Freeman proposes the contours of a contemporary California canon, encompassing 49 West Coast writers and an iconic literary institution in his new book charting the Golden State's 21st-Century literary landscape—out from Heyday this fall.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙙 combines personal awakening, ecological portraits, Indigenous history, political urgency, and stunning photography to transform the anonymity of public lands into affection. This book is an invitation to know, love, and therefore defend America’s most overlooked public commons.

Take a sideways look at the mighty Pacific Ocean, its storied history and mysterious animal wayfarers with Charles Hood and Marissa Ortega-Welch at Clio's in Oakland.

Adventurers Josh Jackson and Obi Kaufmann have each charted comprehensive inventories of California, mapping the state in their own distinctive styles. In this Heyday Presents event they explore themes of resiliency, activism, and art as an entry point to stewardship. Join us:

Scouting for a great summer read? @ocregister.bsky.social recommends 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙙—a vivid road trip through California's immense public wilderness.

"The California coast grew and prospered during a moment in history when the sea was at its tamest. But lines in the sand are meant to shift. In the last 100 years, the sea rose less than 9 inches in California; by the end of this century, the surge could be greater than 6, possibly 7 feet."

"For years, I wrestled with how much hope to give when writing about our overheating planet," writes @rosannaxia.bsky.social, "But in the process of writing 𝘾𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙖 𝘼𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙚𝙖, I discovered that it is not hope but responsibility that keeps me going."

"𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙙 is a story of adventures across California landscapes from the Mojave Desert to the Elkhorn Ridge Wilderness," writes the @latimes.com. "The shadow of the current assault on public lands weighs heavy while reading this lovely book."

Looking for summer fun in the East Bay? Check out a guided walking tour inspired by Robert Johnson and Janet Byron's 𝘽𝙚𝙧𝙠𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙒𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙨 and learn about the city’s diverse architecture, unusual gardens and secret pathways and parks.

" @rosannaxia.bsky.social’s 𝘾𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙖 𝘼𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙚𝙖 is not for the faint of heart," writes @altajournal.bsky.social of Xia's awards-winning debut book on sea level rise, "It is both a cautionary tale and a call to action."

"I was the last person in the U.S. to interview the great Czesław Miłosz, before he returned to Poland forever."

The BLM—short for the Bureau of Land Management oversees an astonishing 245 million acres across the western states and Alaska. In this excerpt from his new book 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙙 Josh Jackson sets out to discover this often overlooked public inheritance.

"I’ve spent years digging into California’s past to expose UC’s role on the wrong side of history," writes Tony Platt, author of 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝘾𝙖𝙡. "Their version of California’s story reimagined land grabs and massacres as progress and popularized the fiction that Native people quietly vanished."

Among its recommended new reads for July, @altajournal.bsky.social shouts out Gary Prost's 𝙍𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙍𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨. Blending science, history, and travel, he explores everything from earthquake activity to the messy legacy of the gold rush, offering an engaging look at the geology that shapes California.

In 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙙 Josh Jackson finds a hidden refuge in the mountains and prairies of California’s 15 million acres of Bureau of Land Management lands. These overlooked “commons,” dismissed as leftover offer free camping, wildlife corridors, and democratic access to wilderness.

What is Heyday? Good question. We are an independent publisher founded in 1974 and rooted in California.📍 We are dedicated to publishing books that celebrate the Golden State's natural splendor, history and culture, Indigenous voices, and social justice movements. heydaybooks.com