April 18, 2013 Bulletin Help Wanted By Sadie Stein We were extremely intrigued by the following classified, which advertises work for a “writer and editor.” Watson Adventures seeks a writer and editor of cultural scavenger hunts. Must have excellent sense of humor, fanatical attention to detail, slavish devotion to deadlines. Must be flexible and a team player, with good interpersonal skills. Please send published examples of your writing and 3 examples of hunt questions suitable for our style of hunt. Full time, salary $40k per year, plus health insurance, 401k plan, optional dental. Send resume and clips to [email protected]. Guessing there are a few qualified applicants at my alma mater.
April 17, 2013 Bulletin A Bigger, Brighter Screen By Lorin Stein Andy Warhol, Screen Test: Virginia Tusi, 1965, still from a silent black-and-white film in 16mm, 4 minutes at 16 frames per second. Readers of The Paris Review will remember a portfolio and a novel excerpt by Rachel Kushner in our Winter issue. Now that book—The Flamethrowers—is out and earning raves (“It unfolds on a bigger, brighter screen than nearly any recent American novel I can remember,” says today’s New York Times). Click here to read our excerpt and here to see (and read about) the artworks that inspired the novel.
April 13, 2013 Bulletin See You There: Paris Review at the Downtown Literary Festival Tomorrow By The Paris Review Join The Paris Review tomorrow for McNally Jackson and Housing Works Bookstore’s inaugural Downtown Literary Festival, a daylong celebration of New York City’s literary culture. The festival will take place at both bookstores simultaneously throughout the day, followed by a happy hour mingle at Housing Works Bookstore and an after-party at Pravda, featuring Russian literature–themed cocktails. We will present selections from The Paris Review’s archives, with readings of the poetry of Barbara Guest and Bernadette Mayer by Hettie Jones, Jim Carroll’s The Basketball Diaries by Hailey Gates, and a performance of Jack Kerouac’s 1968 Art of Fiction interview by Paul Lazar, of Big Dance Theater. Fast Talking: Downtown Writing from The Paris Review ArchiveSunday, April 14, 1 P.M.–1:45 P.M. McNally Jackson 52 Prince Street
April 2, 2013 Bulletin Paris Review Nominated for Two National Magazine Awards By Lorin Stein On the eve of celebrating our sixtieth birthday, The Paris Review is up for two National Magazine Awards: Fiction and General Excellence. Our fiction finalist is Sarah Frisch, whose story “Housebreaking” appeared in issue 203. These nominations are the latest in a series of recent plaudits. Last month, we received seven nominations for the Pushcart Prize. We also had a story (“The Chair,” by David Means) chosen for The Best American Short Stories and an essay (“Human Snowball,” by Davy Rothbart) selected for the year’s Best Nonrequired Reading. This week, New York magazine placed our new issue in the top quadrant of its famous, feared Approval Matrix, while Adam Sternbergh, blogging for the New York Times, called it “great … great … great.” He singles out “a great, long interview with Mark Leyner,” the Art of Fiction with “New York literary icon Deborah Eisenberg,” and “a great new poem from Frederick Seidel”; plus, “you’ll look great toting The Paris Review,” thanks, presumably, to our great cover.
April 1, 2013 Bulletin Marie Chaix and Harry Mathews at La Maison Française By Sadie Stein Here’s one we won’t be missing: tomorrow evening, at 7:30 P.M., join Marie Chaix and Harry Mathews as they discuss writing, translation, and collaboration at NYU’s Maison Française. Read more about their story here!
March 27, 2013 Bulletin A Prize for Isol By Sadie Stein Argentinian children’s illustrator Isol has won the 2013 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, an international prize given by the Swedish government in memory of the Pippi Longstocking author. With a purse of five million Swedish kronor (almost $800,000), it is the world’s biggest children’s literature prize, and has been awarded in the past to Maurice Sendak, Philip Pullman, and Katherine Paterson. The stated mission is to expand interest in children’s books and causes and, somewhat more confusingly, to “safeguard democratic values.” However you interpret that, we can all agree that Isol’s work is terrific: whimsical, fun, and sinister in only the best ways.