THE BELIEVER 141 SPRING/SUMMER 2023

All subscriptions to the Believer placed by July 1st will start with this issue.

Named the best magazine of 2022 by Alta.

A twelve-time finalist for the National Magazine Awards, every issue of The Believer features commentary, deeply reported journalism, poetry, art, essays, and a difficult but ultimately highly enjoyable games section. Printed on full color, acid-free paper, the magazine has long been a home for the unexpected and the unwieldy corners of culture, a place where readers can encounter emerging talents alongside established, award-winning writers and artists. Lavishly illustrated and perfect-bound, The Believer is printed four times a year, and occasionally accompanied by a delightful bonus item, like an original 7” record or some other equally amusing object.

Table of Contents:

Issue 141

Resurrector: Ishtar
by Brandon Hobson

Underway: Danielle A. Jackson

Stuff I’ve Been Reading
by Nick Hornby

”Fame for Fame”
a new comic by Noah Van Sciver

“Love and Death Speaking at Once”
a new poem by Emily Jungmin Yoon

Close Read: Appleton
by Molly Young

Sacrifice Zone: Land’s End, UK
by Meara Sharma

Ask Carrie
by Carrie Brownstein

“Lost Ones”
by Ross Scarano
Experts agree that memories of rare music can persist for years.

Flavor Flav
interviewed by Melissa Locker

“If One Woman Told the Truth about Her Life”
by Rebecca Rukeyser
For years, the author was under the impression that her grandmother, the iconic poet Muriel Rukeyser, used Donnan Jeffers, son of another iconic poet, Robinson Jeffers, as a sperm bank, for the purposes of begetting a literary child. But was this the whole story?

Michael Imperioli
interviewed by Hayden Bennett

“The Curse of Kafka”
by Andrea Bajani
Considering the rarely discussed, highly stigmatized experience that touches almost every writer’s career: the failed book.

An extensive, reported feature from Dave Eggers on his trip to Ukraine.

Eula Biss
interviewed by Mara Naselli

Animal: Rumi
by Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi

“Too Much and Therefore Nothing,”
a new poem by Jenny Xie

Dale Dickey
interviewed by Yvonne Conza

“The Hard Problem of My Consciousness,”
a new comic by Gabrielle Bell

One-Page Reviews
Short reviews of small press books, featuring Zoe Hu on Colin Winnette, Ricardo Frasso Jaramillo on Isabel Zapata, and Danielle Dutton on Gagosian’s new Picture Books imprint.

Hotel: The Atlanta
by Leslie Carol Roberts

“What Were You Waiting For,”
a new poem by Aria Aber

Wo Chan
microinterviewed by Alexander Chee