May 25, 2012 Bulletin A Little Vacation from Writing By Sadie Stein The most obvious attraction of quotation is that it gives you a little vacation from writing—the other person is doing the work. All you have to do is type. But there is a reason beyond sloth for my liking of quotation at length. It permits you to show the thing itself rather than the pale, and never quite right, simulacrum that paraphrase is. —Janet Malcom, The Art of Nonfiction No. 4 Happy Memorial Day! Enjoy the long weekend.
May 22, 2012 Bulletin What We’re Doing: NYPL Discussion, Tonight By The Paris Review Here’s something important: tonight, our friends at n+1 and the New York Institute of the Humanities are sponsoring a panel entitled “The Central Library Plan and the Future of the New York Public Library.” Panelists will discuss objections to the New York Public Library’s Central Library Plan as well as the petition calling on NYPL President Anthony Marx to reconsider the $350 million proposal. For details, go to n+1’s Web site.
May 21, 2012 Bulletin App Time at The Paris Review By The Paris Review As David Carr reported in today’s New York Times, The Paris Review is partnering with The Atavist to bring you an app worthy of the magazine, with complete issues, rare archival material, our entire interview series … and (natch) the Paris Review Daily. Starting late this summer, you’ll be able to read us on your iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Kobo, Nook, or Sony Reader. Foreign readers, take heart! For four decades we’ve been looking for a cheap and timely way to get the Review to our fans abroad. Soon, whether you’re in Melbourne or Milan, you’ll be able to read our stories, interviews, and poems at the same moment as everyone else. Lovers of print, you take heart, too! Even those of us who hold no brief for gizmos will want to check out this app—for hard-to-find back issues, special anthologies, plus audio and video of your favorite writers. This is stuff we can only bring you digitally—and stuff nobody else can bring you. Stay tuned.
May 14, 2012 Bulletin The Art of Poetry, Live By The Paris Review Photograph by Dominique NabokovWatch a Paris Review interview in action! Thursday, May 17, Paris Review poetry editor Robyn Creswell will interview poet James Fenton (both fellows at the Cullman Center) at the New York Public Library in what will, ultimately, become a part of our legendary Art of Poetry series. The interview will be followed by a Q & A with audience members. For details, visit the NYPL’s web site. We’ll see you there.
May 11, 2012 Bulletin Book Perfume, Newspaper Dresses By Sadie Stein Perfumes that smell like books? Depends on the book, really! Prom dresses made of newspapers? Depends on the broadsheet, really! An MRI with John Jeremiah Sullivan. A study finds that literature increases empathy. Thomas Jefferson’s gardening journal. The best audiobooks for a road trip.
May 10, 2012 Bulletin If You Missed the Translation Panel… By Sadie Stein As one of our readers, Ms., pointed out, I didn’t really give readers enough notice about last week’s PEN translation panel. Mea culpa! You can watch the following video of the event—featuring a distinguished assemblage of writers, editors, and translators—from the comfort of your own home. And if you have any burning questions on the topic, I feel safe in saying Lorin will be delighted to answer them, via [email protected]!