The Believer, Issue 136

The Believer, a ten-time National Magazine Award finalist, is a literature, arts, and culture magazine published by the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute, and based in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Since 2003, The Believer has published writers that take the long view, and work that's too unusual or experimental for mainstream outlets. In each issue, readers will find journalism, essays, intimate interviews, an expansive comics section, poetry, timely and untimely reviews, and on occasion, delightful and unexpected bonus items. The Believer is edited by: Hayden Bennett, Vera Blossom, Camille Bromley, Jericho Brown, Daniel Gumbiner, Niela Orr, Tamar Peterson, Kristen Radtke, Ross Simonini, Summer Thomad, and James Yeh. The Believer is edited by a group of novelists, poets, artists, columnists, critics, regular readers of the Chicago Manual of Style, and aficionados of print and digital literature. The editors are far-flung, curious, and interested in the kinds of things that contributors are passionate about. Our regular columnists are Nick Hornby and Peter Orner. Each issue of the magazine is perfect-bound and printed by friendly Canadians on recycled, acid-free, heavy-stock paper and suitable for archiving, framing, or reading in the tub. Questions? Please give us a call: (866) 930-0264 or reach us by email: CustomerService@BelieverMag.info.

Notes & Apologies… 1

Featured Artist…Sarah Maloney…3

Conversations with Contributors…4

The Field…Various…6

Timely and tardy dispatches from the culture, featuring Jillian Steinhauer on the art world’s interest in old women artists; Delphine Sims and Gaila Sims on the persistent inequity of museums; and Harmony Holiday on the private beauty of the Black backstage.

How to Swim in Open Water…Hannah Kingsley-Ma…16

“The Party”: a comic…Margaret Kimball…18

Does the family that parties together stay together?

Tool: uni-ball Vision Exact Micro in Black…Rachel Z. Arndt…28

Objects of Fire…Tessa Love…30

An archive of lost objects—and lost histories—from the California wildfires.

“Named Storm”: a poem…Elizabeth Onusko…39

The Process: Steve Sharp…Nate Rogers…40

Schema: An Incomplete Survey of Fictional Knitters…Zeynab Warsame…46

“Novel in Progress”: a poem…Dan Beachy-Quick…48

Border Acts… José Orduña…49

Considering the structures that order the social reality of the US-Mexico borderlands via an experimental theatrical performance.

An interview with David Duchovny…Ross Simonini…62

“Sestina Gratitude”: a poem… Joyelle McSweeney…70

Child’s Play…Ryan Ruby…73

On parenting, Wittgenstein, and the art of respectful indifference.

Jeff Tweedy in conversation with Jeff Tweedy…81

Stuff I’ve Been Reading…Nick Hornby…85


Josephine Decker in conversation with Sarah Gubbins…88