The Paris Review

It has long been a source of chagrin here at 62 White (and to George Plimpton before us) that our love for the Strand went unrequited.

Though we whiled away our weekends amid their shelves, brought them armloads of books every time we moved, and always spent more than we got paid, the Strand refused to carry so much as a single copy of The Paris Review. We tried not to take it personally. We were told it was company policy—no magazines. But in our heart of hearts, we always knew we should be together. Was there no room for us in their sixteen miles of books?

Now, all is right with the world. Starting June 13, not only can you purchase America’s finest literary quarterly at 13th and Broadway, but you can join us there, too, for a series of events featuring the best fiction, poetry, movies, actors, and readers we can find. It’ll be smart. It’ll be fun. And it will come with an original tote bag celebrating these two venerable New York institutions.

And who, you ask, will design this tote? You, dear reader! That’s right: we're holding a contest. Get in touch with your inner graphic designer/illustrator. Here are the details:

Design a bag that features the original Paris Review logo (as seen on our homepage and the cover of the magazine) and remember to leave room for the Strand oval, too. You can incorporate old cover art, go all-graphic, or dream up something completely your own. (For further inspiration, check out our current totes!) We want to know what the Review means to you!

All contributors to our John Irving hypothetical-jacket-copy contest: Bravo! We asked you to incorporate the recurring themes of Irving’s oeuvre into a few sentences, and you ran with it. We laughed, we cried, we cringed. This was not an easy decision. But there was one entry that stood out. And that entry was the work of one Fer O’Neil. The winning entry:

Phillip is a forty-two-year-old virgin who believes that he would become a sex-addicted pedophile once he experienced his first sexual sensation. Hating himself for that slippery slope, he devotes his life to helping restore nineteenth-century houses as an antique bullion maker. Working on the Hilton Road house south of Augusta, Maine, Philip befriends the abused daughter of his employer. Forced to flee by duty of circumstance, for the next twenty years they live together an unlikely life. Can the dysfunctions that debilitate be the very things that save us? Or are the centrifugal forces that bind us together ultimately what will tear us apart?

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As fans of John Irving know, interviews with the legendary writer are rare indeed. So the chance to see Irving interviewed live don’t come around every day. But this Friday, he’ll sit down for an hour-long radio chat with Ron Bennington, and you could be in the audience. (Provided you can get to Manhattan!)

Here’s how it works: write the jacket copy—no more than five sentences—describing Irving’s imaginary next novel. Topics may include, but need not be restricted to, bears, wrestling, New England, sex workers, writers, and Vienna. (Probably at least two would be a good idea.)

Please submit all entries to contests@theparisreview.org by noon EST, Thursday, May 10.

In The Speaker’s Progress, part of the 2011 Next Wave Festival, Sulayman Al-Bassam presents the final installment of a trilogy that reinterprets Shakespeare within the context of the modern Middle East. On Friday, the director talks about the Bard and the current political situation with Robyn Creswell, Arabic translator and Paris Review poetry editor.

To win tickets to this Artist Talk, simply e-mail the subject line “BAM” to contests@theparisreview.org. The first two readers to respond are on their way to Fort Greene! (Two tickets per winner.)

“Shakespeare in the Middle East”
Hillman Attic Studio, Brooklyn Academy of Music
Friday, October 7 at 6 P.M.
$10; $5 for Friends of BAM

This was a tough one. We asked you to photoshop an author of your choice onto our beach towel. The entries were truly staggering in their creativity and execution (as you can see for yourselves.) But there can only be one grand-prize beach-towel winner. First, our wonderful runners-up, all of whom win ever-chic Paris Review tees.

Peter Orlovsky, Jack Kerouac, and William Burroughs relaxing on the beach.

Have we got a contest for you! Break out those Photoshop skills and place your favorite writer on our super-duper Paris Review beach towel for a chance to win exactly this towel! Meta, we know. To enter, join our Flickr group and submit your image to the pool. We’ll share the winning image, along with a couple of our favorites on The Daily by the end of this month.

P.S. Don’t do Photoshop? If you’d like to get a beach towel of your own, simply subscribe or renew with our special beach towel offer.