Mona Simpson hosts McSweeney’s at Hammer Museum
McSweeney’s and the UCLA Hammer Museum team up for Tuesday night’s “Some Favorite Writers: McSweeney’s at the Hammer,” a roundtable discussion about the literary community.
(Victoria Chang/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Christina Vo
Oct. 21, 2014 12:44 a.m.
About 10 years ago, UCLA English professor and McSweeney’s contributor Mona Simpson went on a mission to bring stimulating discussions on literature to writers and readers, specifically college graduates, who yearn for the same intellectual connection found in the classroom.
“There’s a yearning that people develop for a kind of connection that’s very deep and intimate that starts with a text and goes on to all the questions of life,” Simpson said. “They want that after college. I want to expose them to different ways of sustaining literary life.”
Almost a year ago, Simpson approached McSweeney’s executive editor Jordan Bass and asked him to bring the publishing company to the UCLA Hammer Museum to be part of her reading discussion series “Some Favorite Writers.” On Tuesday, the series will present “Some Favorite Writers: McSweeney’s at the Hammer.”
McSweeney’s is a nonprofit publishing company established in 1998 in San Francisco by Dave Eggers, a writer who wanted to put together a magazine that published work that had been rejected by other magazines.
Bass said McSweeney’s still carries on with this idea by making a home for new and unusual work that might not fit anywhere else. Printed on McSweeney’s employee T-shirts, “Nothing is impossible when you work for the circus” is the company’s motto.
The company mainly focuses on its quarterly, also called McSweeney’s. It recently released its 47th issue, a collection of 10 pieces, two stories by Shirley Jackson and even a satirical play by “Breaking Bad” actor Bob Odenkirk.
“Every story’s different, but I think it’s always great to get the opportunity to put a new issue together and think about how to fit all the pieces into one thing,” Bass said. “I would say the theme of this issue would be huge variety.”
The company’s founder also founded 826 National, a nonprofit writing and tutoring organization, along with Nínive Calegari in 2002. Also established in San Francisco, the organization eventually expanded into eight chapters across the United States and has served more than 31,000 students.
“Some Favorite Writers: McSweeney’s at the Hammer” will host a roundtable discussion between Bass, Simpson, Los Angeles-based writer and McSweeney’s contributor Kevin Moffett, 826LA’s Executive Director Joel Arquillos. 826LA is the Los Angeles branch of 826 National.
“It’s going to be a bunch of people talking about, in very different ways, how in adult life they’re having fun in a literary life and sustaining it,” Simpson said. “Everybody’s engaged and involved in a community that seems important enough for them to keep doing this.”
While a mutual founder connects McSweeney’s and 826 National, Simpson and Moffett are both writers who have contributed to McSweeney’s publications. Simpson said a typical “Some Favorite Writers” discussion event involves the speakers present starting a discussion with each other and finally discussing it with the audience. During the second hour, the audience members and speakers will have the opportunity to socialize with one another.
Bass said the discussion will also include a conversation between all four speakers about independent publishing and writing for literary magazines. Bass said he thinks it will be a cross section of everything that McSweeney’s does by having 826LA and two of its own short story writers there.
“We’ll talk a little bit about how to help build a community of writers and get more people involved to help support this work,” Arquillos said. “It’s also maybe a way to get people involved in (826LA) and volunteer their time.”
The McSweeney’s event is one of many in the “Some Favorite Writers” series that Simpson said she hopes will help readers and writers find a community and an outlet. Simpson said writers and literary types are often solitary, and these discussions are a chance to foster a community based on mutual interests.
“You could probably read a certain piece yourself, but it’s nice to have a deeper discussion about it,” Simpson said. “One wants to more than just read a book; one wants to talk about the book. (“Some Favorite Writers”) is a chance for that experience to be communal.”
