You don’t forget the first time you encounter the work of Heidi Julavits or Ben Marcus. They’ve been making big waves in the literary community for years now. When I was in grad school, 10 years after Ben Marcus’ debut collection The Age of Wire and String launched, people were still clinging to that book wild-eyed and giddy. “You’ve got to read Ben Marcus,” they said. With his post-apocalyptic novel, The Flame Alphabet, and his latest collection, Leaving the Sea, Marcus has solidified his reputation as “the most maniacally gifted writer of our generation.”
When I discovered that Heidi Julavits had co-founded The Believer—possibly the most progressive lit-crit magazine ever created—I kicked myself for not reading her work sooner. In her novels, Julavits forays into the surreal, the supernatural, the mythological, and the mundane. Hers is a mighty voice for female empowerment. As The New York Times wrote about the anthology she co-edited, Women in Clothes, her voice encourages women to “Be voluble, grandiose, experimental, wild. Be imperfect.”
We’re so excited to bring in Heidi Julavits and Ben Marcus for Inside the Writer’s Studio on October 3rd. They’re a literary power couple if one ever existed (they're married), and they were good-hearted enough to agree to interview each other on stage. With these smart and talented word-engineers, the upcoming Inside the Writer’s Studio will surely soar—revealing to us new dimensions of writerly wisdom.
For more context on Heidi and Ben, we recommend exploring the links below, which are a few of our favorite things from these two authors, past and present.
The Lynch-esque book trailer for Julavits’ strange and beautiful 2013 novel, The Vanishers.
Ben Marcus’ highly quotable introduction to New American Short Stories, “Language is a Drug.”
The Paris Review interview in which Heidi Julavits responds to questions with photographs of items for sale on E-Bay.
Andrea Dupree’s (Lighthouse Program Director) favorite thing from Ben Marcus.
The Rumpus interview with Heidi Julavits in which psychics, Rolfing, plastic surgery, and rashes are among the topics of discussion.
A very recent interview by George Saunders with Ben Marcus on the state of the American short story for Granta.
Eula Biss’ spellbinding review of Heidi Julavits latest book, The Folded Clock.
The Guardian’s appraisal (“landmark,” “intense,” “brilliant”) of the anthology Ben Marcus edited, New American Stories.
Heidi Julavits’ manifesto on the purpose and function of book reviews for The Believer.
A short story on the link between fear and apathy by Ben Marcus in The New Yorker, “The Grow-Light Blues.”
Heidi Julavits exposing herself as a Jennifer Egan fan-girl in an interview with Egan for BOMB.
Probably the creepiest animated book trailer ever made, for Ben Marcus’ The Flame Alphabet.
An early-ish (2009) short story by Heidi Julavits in Harper’s Magazine, “The Santosbrazzi Killer.”
Video of Ben Marcus’ conversation with Lydia Davis for the Lannan Foundation.
A very thorough and detailed chronology of Heidi Julavits’ life from the Encyclopedia of World Biography.
Ben Marcus nerding-out over “What it Really Means to be Kafkaesque” for The Atlantic.
The Writer's Studio includes two intimate craft seminars with the authors at Lighthouse, Pay Attention with Ben Marcus and Time Is an Object with Heidi Julavits, followed by an on-stage interview and reading at the Denver Art Museum's Lewis Sharp Auditorium. Registration is open. Student tickets for Inside the Writer's Studio are available for $5 by phone (303) 297-1185.
