The Paris Review

The Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist Joy Williams reads entries from “Concerning the Future of Souls” (issue no. 247, Spring 2024), a collection of stories following Azrael, the angel of death and transporter of souls. This episode was produced by John DeLore and Helena de Groot, and was mixed and sound-designed by John DeLore. Our theme song this season is “Shadow,” composed and performed by Ernst Reijseger. Additional Links: https://www.theparisreview.org/fiction/8252/concerning-the-future-of-souls-joy-williams Subscribe to the Paris Review

In Zach Williams's “Trial Run” (issue no. 239, Spring 2022), an employee is subjected to two coworkers' conspiracy theories when their office is targeted by an anonymous white supremacist hacker. The story is read by Michael Chernus, Danny Mastrogiorgio, and Gabriel Marin. This episode was produced by John DeLore and Helena de Groot, and was mixed and sound-designed by John DeLore. Our theme song this season is “Shadow,” composed and performed by Ernst Reijseger. Additional Links:  www.theparisreview.org/fiction/7873/trial-run-zach-williams Subscribe to the Paris Review

“We were thirteen and conspiratorial and what was said is now out of reach. As it should be.” Jim Fletcher reads Peter Orner's “Foley's Pond” (Issue No. 202, Fall 2012), a quietly devastating short story about the effects of a tragic accident. This episode was produced by John DeLore and Helena de Groot, and was mixed and sound designed by John DeLore. Our theme song this season is “Shadow,” composed and performed by Ernst Reijseger. Additional Links: https://www.theparisreview.org/fiction/6173/foleys-pond-peter-orner Subscribe to the Paris Review

The legendary actor George Takei reads one of the oldest stories in the Review's archive.  Published by the magazine in 1957, “The Victim” is Ivan Morris's English translation of the Japanese author Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's 1910 literary debut.  This episode was produced by John DeLore and Helena de Groot, and was mixed and sound designed by John DeLore. Our theme song this season is “Shadow,” composed and performed by Ernst Reijseger. Additional Links:  theparisreview.org/fiction/4872/the-victim-junichiro-tanizaki Subscribe to the Paris Review The Japanese American Museum: https://www.janm.org/ 

Sean Thor Conroe shares entries from “The Walk Book”—his meticulous, funny travelogue about his 2014 attempt to walk across the United States—including some rain-soaked field recordings. This episode was produced and sound designed by Helena de Groot. Our theme song this season is “Shadow,” composed and performed by Ernst Reijseger. Additional Links:  theparisreview.org/letters-essays/8039/the-walk-book-sean-thor-conroe Subscribe to the Paris Review

Nobel Prize–winning Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk discusses the souls of animals, discovering feminism, and her home in the village of Krajanów where she was once neighbors with “three different translators of William Blake in an excerpt from her Art of Fiction interview with Marta Figlerowicz. This episode was produced and sound designed by John DeLore. Our theme song this season is “Shadow,” composed and performed by Ernst Reijseger. Additional Links:  theparisreview.org/interviews/7968/the-art-of-fiction-no-258-olga-tokarczuk Subscribe to the Paris Review

“We needed erotic touch to tell us what we were.” Robert Glück reads from About Ed, a memoir about his relationship with his former partner Ed Aulerich-Sugai. The performance is paired with excerpts from his Art of Fiction interview with Lucy Ives.  This episode was produced by Helena de Groot and John DeLore, and was mixed and sound designed by Helena de Groot. Our theme song this season is “Shadow,” composed and performed by Ernst Reijseger. Additional Links:  https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/8016/the-art-of-fiction-no-260-robert-gluck https://theparisreview.org/miscellaneous/7896/about-ed-robert-gluck Subscribe to the Paris Review

“Nothing reifies a romance like proximate disaster.” Seated at her kitchen table, Jean Garnett reads her essay, “Scenes from an Open Marriage,” and chats with the Review's Deputy Editor, Lidija Haas, and Senior Producer of the podcast, Helena de Groot.  This episode was produced, sound-designed and mixed by Helena de Groot. Our theme song this season is “Shadow,” composed and performed by Ernst Reijseger. Additional Links:  theparisreview.org/blog/2022/06/29/scenes-from-an-open-marriage/ Subscribe to the Paris Review

“The only colors we're going to use will be blacker than most blacks. Mm-kay.” Terrance Hayes reads his poem, “Bob Ross Paints Your Portrait.” An homage to the iconic host of the PBS show The Joy of Painting, and an exploration of Blackness: “deep-space black, black-hole black … lampblack and ink black, boot black and blackjack and blacker.” This episode was produced by Helena de Groot and John DeLore. It was sound-designed, mixed, and features original scoring by Helena de Groot. Our theme song this season is “Shadow,” composed and performed by Ernst Reijseger. Additional Links: theparisreview.org/poetry/7883/bob-ross-paints-your-portrait-terrance-hayes https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/457422/so-to-speak-by-hayes-terrance Subscribe to the Paris Review

Pulitzer Prize winner Sharon Olds discusses sex, religion, and writing poems that "women were definitely not supposed to write,” in an excerpt from her Art of Poetry interview with Jessica Laser. Olds also reads three of her poems: “Sisters of Sexual Treasure” (Issue No. 74, Fall–Winter 1978), “True Love,” and “The Easel.” This episode was produced and sound designed by John DeLore. Audio recording of “Sisters of Sexual Treasure” is courtesy of the Woodberry Poetry Room, Harvard University. Our theme song this season is “Shadow,” composed and performed by Ernst Reijseger. Additional Links: theparisreview.org/interviews/8000/the-art-of-poetry-no-114-sharon-olds theparisreview.org/poetry/3462/the-sisters-of-sexual-treasure-sharon-olds Subscribe to the Paris Review

A stealth poetry reading inside a bustling IKEA. Poet Maggie Millner reads her own poem (Issue no. 239, Spring 2022), as well as two more from the archive: Toi Dericotte's “Bird” (Issue No. 124, Fall 1992) and Rainer Maria Rilke's “Death” (Issue No. 82, Winter 1981). This episode was produced by Helena de Groot and John DeLore, and was sound designed by John DeLore. Our theme song this season is “Shadow,” composed and performed by Ernst Reijseger. Additional Links: theparisreview.org/poetry/7855/from-couplets-maggie-millner theparisreview.org/poetry/6855/death-rainer-maria-rilke theparisreview.org/poetry/2039/two-poems-toi-derricotte maggiemillner.com/ Subscribe to the Paris Review

Actor, producer, and screenwriter Lena Waithe reads Rivers Solomon's “This Is Everything There Will Ever Be,” which was published in issue no. 243 of the Review. The story, dark and uplifting by turns, is a portrait of “just another late-forties dyke entirely too into basketball, dogs, and memes.” This episode was produced and sound designed by Helena de Groot. Our theme song this season is “Shadow,” composed and performed by Ernst Reijseger. Additional Links: theparisreview.org/fiction/7963/this-is-everything-there-will-ever-be-rivers-solomon rivers-solomon.com/ Subscribe to the Paris Review

The Paris Review Podcast returns with a new season on November 15, 2023. Selections of interviews, fiction, essays, and poetry from America's most legendary literary quarterly, brought to life in sound. Catch up now on earlier seasons & then tune in November 15th for the fourth season.

We're excited to bring you a special clip from Well-Read Black Girl, hosted by Glory Edim. Well-Read Black Girl is the literary kickback you never knew you needed. Each week, Glory sits in deep, honest and close conversation with authors like Tarana Burke, Min Jin Lee, Anita Hill, Gabrielle Union, Elizabeth Acevedo and more. You'll also meet WRBG Book Club members, literacy advocates, and Black booksellers to hear what they're reading and what it means to be well-read. Join Glory through this current cultural moment – where art, justice and literature collide – and pay homage to the literary legacies of the women who paved the way. You'll laugh, cry, connect and build space for kinship in a shared love of literature. Tune in, turn the page, and join the celebration.   Subscribe now in Stitcher, Apple, or wherever you listen: https://www.stitcher.com/show/wellread-black-girl-with-glory-edim https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/well-read-black-girl-with-glory-edim/id1591263597 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're excited to bring you a special clip from Well-Read Black Girl, hosted by Glory Edim. Well-Read Black Girl is the literary kickback you never knew you needed. Each week, Glory sits in deep, honest and close conversation with authors like Tarana Burke, Min Jin Lee, Anita Hill, Gabrielle Union, Elizabeth Acevedo and more. You'll also meet WRBG Book Club members, literacy advocates, and Black booksellers to hear what they're reading and what it means to be well-read. Join Glory through this current cultural moment – where art, justice and literature collide – and pay homage to the literary legacies of the women who paved the way. You'll laugh, cry, connect and build space for kinship in a shared love of literature. Tune in, turn the page, and join the celebration. Subscribe now in Stitcher, Apple, or wherever you listen:https://www.stitcher.com/show/wellread-black-girl-with-glory-edimhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/well-read-black-girl-with-glory-edim/id1591263597

Our Season 3 finale opens with “The Trick Is to Pretend,” a poem by Natalie Scenters-Zapico, read by the singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers: “I climb knowing the only way down / is by falling.” The actor Jessica Hecht plays Joan Didion in a reenactment of her classic Art of Fiction interview with Linda Kuehl. Jericho Brown reads his poem “Hero”: “my brothers and I grew up fighting / Over our mother's mind.” The actor, comedian, and podcaster Connor Ratliff reads Bud Smith's “Violets,” the story of two unlikely arsonists rediscovering life in the flames. The episode closes with Bridgers performing “Garden Song.”   To hear more from Connor Ratliff, check out his podcast Dead Eyes. To hear Avery Trufelman's latest show, find the podcast Nice Try! “Hero” by Jericho Brown appears courtesy of the 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center.   This episode was sound designed and mixed by Hannis Brown, and mastered by Justin Shturtz. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In an essay specially commissioned for the podcast, Aisha Sabatini Sloan describes rambling around Paris with her father, Lester Sloan, a longtime staff photographer for Newsweek, and a glamorous woman who befriends them. In an excerpt from The Art of Fiction no. 246, Rachel Cusk and Sheila Heti discuss how writing her first novel helped Cusk discover her “shape or identity or essence.” Next, Allan Gurganus's reading of his story “It Had Wings,” about an arthritic woman who finds a fallen angel in her backyard, is interspersed with a version of the story rendered as a one-woman opera by the composer Bruce Saylor. The episode closes with “Dear Someone,” a poem by Deborah Landau.   To check out Captioning the Archives, the book Aisha Sabatini Sloan created with her father, Lester Sloan, visit McSweeney's.   This episode was sound designed and mixed by John DeLore, and mastered by Justin Shturtz. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode focuses exclusively on the work of fiction writer Edward P. Jones, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Known World and All Aunt Hagar's Children, and subject of the Art of Fiction no. 222. The episode opens with an excerpt from that interview, a conversation between Jones and Hilton Als. Then actor Amber Gray (Hadestown) reads Jones's story “Marie” from issue no. 122.   This episode was sound designed and mixed by Helena de Groot, and mastered by Justin Shturtz. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

George Saunders, in an excerpt from his Art of Fiction interview, explains how his teenage job delivering fast food prepared him to write fiction; Monica Youn reads her poem “Goldacre,” which tells the truth about Twinkies; Molly McCully Brown reads her essay “If You Are Permanently Lost,” in which she confesses that “space makes no sense”; and Venita Blackburn reads “Fam,” a very short story about self-love and social media. This episode was sound designed and mixed by Helena de Groot, and mastered by Justin Shturtz. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Robert Frost defines modern poetry in an excerpt from his Art of Poetry interview; the Italian poet Antonella Anedda discusses her poem “Historiae 2” with her translator Susan Stewart before the American vocal ensemble Tenores de Aterúe re-imagines the poem as a song in the folk tradition of Anedda's native Sardinia; and Yohanca Delgado reads her story “The Little Widow from the Capital,” a tale of mystery, heartbreak, and embroidery set in a New York apartment building.   Robert Frost's December 16, 1959, interview with Richard Poirier appears courtesy of the Woodberry Poetry Room at Harvard University's Houghton Library. PS3511.R94 Z467 1959x. HOLLIS Permalink: 990023780790203941.   To learn more about Tenores de Aterúe, check out their documentary feature at www.aterue.com. Visit Bandcamp to hear more of their music. This episode was sound designed and mixed by John DeLore, and mastered by Justin Shturtz. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The celebrated podcast returns for its third season! Join us on an audio odyssey through the pages of The Paris Review, featuring the best fiction, poetry, interviews, and archival recordings, from the world's most legendary literary quarterly. This season features fiction by Yohanca Delgado, Venita Blackburn, Bud Smith, Allan Gurganus, and Edward P Jones. Poetry from Monica Youn, Deborah Landau, Jericho Brown, Antonella Anedda, and Natalie Scenters-Zapico. Plus excerpts of interviews with Joan Didion, Robert Frost, Rachel Cusk, and George Saunders. This season includes the voices of Phoebe Bridgers, Connor Ratliff, Jessica Hecht, and Amber Gray. Check out this trailer for a preview of the upcoming season, and subscribe now to hear the first episode on October 27th, 2021. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A special bonus episode of The Paris Review Podcast celebrating N. Scott Momaday, the winner of the Review’s 2021 Hadada Award, which recognizes a distinguished member of the writing community who has made a strong and unique contribution to literature. What you are about to hear is an exclusive excerpt of the first step in the process of conducting Momaday’s Writers at Work interview, a bit of the very first call between Momaday and his interviewer, the poet Layli Long Soldier. They discuss the importance of oral tradition to literature, especially to the Native American tradition. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This bonus episode revisits and remixes the virtual launch events for Paris Review issues 233 and 234, summer and fall  2020—no Zoom room required! First, Eloghosa Osunde reads the opening of her story “Good Boy”; next, Aracelis Girmay reads Lucille Clifton’s “Poem to My Yellow Coat”; then Lydia Davis shares  her short piece “The Left Hand”; translator Patricio Ferrari recites “Crater of the Beginning” by Portuguese poet Antonio Osorio; Jamel Brinkley reads an excerpt from his story “Witness”; Rabih Alameddine reads from his story “The July War”; Emma Hine presents her poem “Cassandra”; and the episode concludes with Girmay’s awe-filled recollection of her visit to Clifton’s archive, plus her rendition of Clifton’s poem “Bouquet.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A special bonus episode, recorded live at On Air Fest on March 8, 2020 (just before social distancing sent everyone home), featuring a crowded room of lovely human beings enjoying an immersive live performance of The Paris Review Podcast. The show opens with excerpts of Toni Morrison’s 1993 Art of Fiction Interview, scored live by some of the musicians that created the score for Seasons 1 and 2. Then Vijay Seshadri reads his poem “Ailanthus”; Quincy Tyler Bernstine reads “A Story for Your Daughters, A Story for Your Sons” by Rebecca Makkai; finally, Emily Wells provides live scoring for Bill Callahan’s rendition of Adrienne Rich’s poem “The Tree.”     “The Tree” excerpted from Collected Poems: 1950-2012 © 2016 by the Adrienne Rich Literary Trust. Used with permission of the publisher, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. // The musicians providing the live scoring are Curtis Brewer on guitar, Sam Ospovat on drums, and Mike Brown on bass. // Our theme song is composed by David Cieri.

We’re excited to bring you a special clip from Season 6 of LeVar Burton Reads. Take a break from your daily life, and dive into the best short fiction, handpicked by the world’s greatest storyteller. This season features stories about a shape-shifting con man, satyr wedding crashers, and a sentient military robot. Season 6 of LeVar Burton Reads is out NOW—listen wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe to LeVar Burton Reads in Stitcher, Apple, or wherever you listen: http://stitcherapp.com/levar http://applepodcasts.com/levar http://www.levarburtonpodcast.com/

The final episode of Season 2. The incomparable Charlotte Rampling reenacts Simone de Beauvoir’s classic 1965 Paris Review interview; Danez Smith reads their poem “my bitch!”; Sarah Manguso shares her lyric essay “Oceans,” about moving to California, cancer, and writing oceanically; actor Griffin Dunne reads Henry Green’s story “Arcady; or a Night Out.”; and we close with a recording of the late WS Merwin reading his poem “Night Singing.”

Singer/songwriter Bill Callahan reads “Laguna Blues,” a poem by former U.S. poet laureate Charles Wright; J.M. Holmes reads his Pushcart Prize–winning story “What’s Wrong with You? What’s Wrong with Me?”; seminal dramatist Tennessee Williams describes his daily rituals in an archival interview; and comedian Jenny Slate channels Anne Sexton in her reading of the poet’s “Admonitions to a Special Person.”

Salman Rushdie reads an apologetic letter written by Dylan Thomas to his editor; poet Sharon Olds identifies “The Solution” to America’s problems; Alexandra Kleeman reads her haunting story “Fairy Tale”; and singer/songwriter Devendra Banhart reads the little-known legend of “The Woe Shirt,” as written by Paulé Bártón.“Mea Culpa” © The Dylan Thomas Trust. www.discoverdylanthomas.com.

Actor Quincy Tyler Bernstine revisits one of the most unsettling scandals of the nineties with her reading of Lucille Clifton’s poem “lorena”; Jason Alexander brings Philip Roth’s early story “The Conversion of the Jews” to vivid life; and poet Brenda Shaughnessy contemplates “All Possible Pain.”Lucille Clifton, “lorena” from The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton. Copyright © 1996 by Lucille Clifton. Used with permission of The Permissions Company, LLC on behalf of BOA Editions, Ltd., boaeditions.org.

Legendary novelist and Nobel laureate Toni Morrison explains why beauty is absolutely necessary in an interview from the magazine’s archives; Molly Ringwald channels adolescent grief in her reading of “Guests,” a story by Mary Terrier; and poet Alex Dimitrov reads his poem “Impermanence.”

The celebrated podcast from the legendary literary magazine returns! Join us for new audio adventures through The Paris Review's fiction, poetry, interviews, archival recordings, and sonic imaginings with the likes of Simone de Beauvoir, Tennessee Williams, and today's leading writers.  Featuring readings and writings from Charlotte Rampling, Jason Alexander, Jenny Slate, Devendra Banhart, Danez Smith, Sharon Olds, Lucille Clifton, Molly Ringwald, Salman Rushdie, and more!  Check out this trailer for a preview of the upcoming season, and subscribe now to hear the first episode on October 23rd. More info at www.theparisreview.org/podcast

Before Philip Roth was an American icon, he published one of his first short stories in The Paris Review in 1958. In 2010 he received the Hadada, our award for lifetime achievement. Here is his acceptance speech.

The final episode of Season 1. Jamaica Kincaid in conversation and reading her short story WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING LATELY; James Salter’s story BANGKOK read by Dick Cavett; Sadie Stein encounters a literary specter on the 1 Train; Frederick Seidel reads his poem THE END OF SUMMER; and Caitlin Youngquist reads Robert Bly’s CHORAL STANZA NUMBER ONE, which appeared in the very first issue of The Paris Review, in the Spring of 1953.

Shotguns, peacocks, golf, acid. Editor Terry McDonell recounts his 1984 visit, along with George Plimpton, to Hunter S. Thompson's home in Colorado, including never-before-heard archival tape; a poem by Pablo Neruda, translated by Alastair Reid and read by Antonio Gueudinot; and actor Paul Heesang Miller reads WILLIAM WEI, a short story by Amie Barrodale. "Emerging" from EXTRAVAGARIA by Pablo Neruda, translated by Alastair Reid. Translation copyright © 1974 by Alastair Reid. Used by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

David Sedaris reads Frank O'Hara; Mary-Louis Parker reads Joy Williams; Dakota Johnson reads Roberto Bolaño; John Ashbery is scored by musician Steve Gunn; and The Paris Review's Southern Editor John Jeremiah Sullivan sings Robert Johnson. "A True Account of Talking to the Sun at Fire Island" from THE COLLECTED POEMS OF FRANK O'HARA by Frank O'Hara, copyright © 1971 by Maureen Granville-Smith, Administratrix of the Estate of Frank O'Hara, copyright renewed 1999 by Maureen O'Hara Granville-Smith and Donald Allen. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. “Soonest Mended” from The Double Dream of Spring by John Ashbery. Copyright © 1970, 1969, 1968, 1967, 1966 by John Ashbery. Used by permission of Georges Borchardt, Inc., on behalf of the author. All rights reserved.

A frat boy encounters the divine in Benjamin Nugent's story GOD, performed by Jesse Eisenberg; Rowan Ricardo Phillips examines the difference between heaven and paradise in his poem KINGDOM COME; and Kristin Dombek sends us a LETTER FROM WILLIAMSBURG.

Stockard Channing and Anna Sale recreate the Review's 1956 interview with Dorothy Parker; writer Idra Novey talks about the taste of the letter "H"; Helga Davis reads Alexia Arthurs short story BAD BEHAVIOR; acclaimed playwright John Guare shares former Review editor Blair Fuller's true story AN EVENING WITH JD SALINGER; and Jeff Gleaves, the Review's Digital Director, recites Elena Wilkinson's poem AFTER THE LOSS OF A LIMB.

Denise Levertov's poem SOUND OF THE AXE, read by actor Glynis Bell; Eudora Welty tells George Plimpton about the time Henry Miller visited her in Jackson, Mississippi, and recounts the mysterious tale of Thelma; Ottessa Moshfegh reads her story A DARK AND WINDING ROAD. This episode is sponsored by Audible. Go to audible.com/PARIS for a 30-trial and free first audiobook.

Eudora Welty recalls the time her mother saved Dickens; David Sedaris ponders the unsettled dead in his essay LETTER FROM EMERALD ISLE; Nadja Spiegelman reads Sharon Olds's poem THE BEETLE; and Peter Ho Davies's short story THE ENDS tells a tale of Nazis, gallows, and basketball.

Acclaimed poet Eileen Myles reads SWEET HEART; two-time Tony nominee Alison Fraser lends her voice to Lucia Berlin's story B.F. AND ME; author Caleb Crain encounters the angel of death; and Brian Cullman shares a story about the time Van Morrison bought him a drink.

Marc Maron reads THE WORM IN PHILLY, a story by Sam Lipsyte; Robert Pattinson reads a poem by James Wright; George Plimpton recalls a boxing match in Hemingway's dining room; and Sadie Stein shares a true story about missed connections.

LeVar Burton recreates the Review's Art of Fiction interview with James Baldwin; Morgan Parker reads her poem HOTTENTOT VENUS; Dakota Johnson reads a poem by Dorothea Lasky; and Lorin Stein reads WHY DON'T YOU DANCE, a classic story by Raymond Carver. “Soonest Mended” from The Double Dream of Spring by John Ashbery. Copyright © 1970, 1969, 1968, 1967, 1966 by John Ashbery. Used by permission of Georges Borchardt, Inc., on behalf of the author. All rights reserved.

A visit to Jack Kerouac’s house ends with the story of Buddha; Hailey Gates reads a poem by Erica Ehrenberg about love and moving on; and MY WIFE, IN CONVERSE, Shelly Oria’s tale of marriage, poetry, and cooking class, as performed by Donnetta Lavinia Grays.

Poet and downtown icon Eileen Myles reading a poem by James Schuyler; archival tape of Maya Angelou interviewed by George Plimpton, the founding editor of the Review; the legendary actor and writer Wallace Shawn reading Denis Johnson’s famous story “Car-Crash While Hitchhiking”; and a true story by Sadie Stein, read by herself, about doing the twist alone on a Tuesday night.

The world's most legendary literary magazine invites you on an audio odyssey through fiction, archival tape, interviews and late nights with the likes of James Baldwin, Dorothy Parker, and the cutting edge writers of our time.  Featuring readings from LeVar Burton, Stockard Channing, Jesse Eisenberg, Marc Maron, Eileen Myles, David Sedaris, Dick Cavett, Dakota Johnson, and more! Check out this trailer for the upcoming season, and subscribe now to hear the first episode on November 8th. More info at www.theparisreview.org/podcast.