Marian Bull (*1988, USA) is a writer, editor, and ceramicist based in Brooklyn, NY. Her writing has primarily focused on food and cooking, and has been published in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, and The New Republic, among others. Her ceramic work has been used at the Michelin-starred Manhattan restaurant Contra, and shown at Hashimoto Contemporary in San Francisco.

I came to Schöppingen to work on a nonfiction book about the stage magic company I performed with as a child. After getting to know the other fellows and their work, I was inspired to realize an idea I’ve been toying with for nearly a year: a „zine“ composed of archival photos I’ve been collecting from the magic company’s 35-year history. For the group show, “The Harvest” I assembled a collage of these photos paired with lines of prose from other writers. The form is inspired by the Roman „Cento“, a patchwork poem composed of lines from other poems.
Spending my first weeks here on the zine allowed me to think more expansively about my creative goals, both for the book and otherwise. It also allowed me to approach my book with fresh eyes, and in the last month I’ve been able to more clearly envision the patchwork of the book itself. These last days have consisted of writing, editing interview transcripts, and attempting to cobble them together thought by thought.