The Paris Review Foundation

Every quarter, we work with roughly five authors to edit and publish remarkable works of prose in The Paris Review. Through this process, we help them refine their work and connect them to roughly 28,000 readers. We interview prose writers, including novelists, story writers, playwrights, and others, for our iconic "Writers at Work" interview series. We also publish prose of quality on our website, including digital-original essays and interviews as well as book excerpts.

In print and online, we publish a mix of established and emerging prose writers. This variety enables us to engage diverse readers, and to signal new authors’ merit by placing them in illustrious company. The Paris Review published some of the earliest work of Philip Roth, V.S. Naipaul, Joy Williams, Michael Cunningham, and Yiyun Li, helping them find their readers and develop their voices, and we continue to shape the contemporary canon.

Every issue of The Paris Review includes at least one visual art portfolio showcasing up to a dozen new and/or recent works by a contemporary visual artist. We also showcase visual art on the cover and opposite the table of contents, and we interview artists online.

Visual art is an essential part of The Paris Review’s identity; at our founding in 1953, we were one of the first literary magazines to commission visual artwork and present it alongside poems and stories. Over the years, we have published portfolios from visual art pioneers such as Robert Mapplethorpe, Louise Bourgeois, Jean Michel Basquiat, Kara Walker, and others, including many who were just beginning to build a following.

By presenting visual artwork alongside creative writing that is, for some audiences, more appealing and impactful than the criticism and reviews found in many art publications, we create meaningful connections between artists and viewers who they might not otherwise reach.

“Writers at Work” is a series of in-depth author interviews published in The Paris Review since its 1953 founding. With over 400 interviews and counting, including luminaries such as William Faulkner, Salman Rushdie, Toni Morrison, Philip Larkin, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Joan Didion, the series is a living archive of voices that have shaped literary culture over the 20th and 21st centuries, and is frequently used in literature and creative writing classrooms.

“Writers at Work” fosters individual creative development by giving interview subjects the opportunity to reflect on their careers and introduce new generations of readers to their work. It promotes public appreciation of literary excellence by enriching public understanding of great writers’ contributions to literature--and for those readers who aspire to literary greatness themselves, they offer a low-barrier way to discover and engage with role models.

In addition to publishing two new interviews each quarter in The Paris Review, we invite readers to dive deeper into the series with anthologies.

Through our in-house imprint, The Paris Review Editions, we publish anthologies of iconic interviews from our archive. Recent anthologies have approached the archive of more than 400 “Writers at Work” interviews through specific organizing lenses, including “Women at Work” (volumes one and two), “Writers at Work Around the World,” and "Poets at Work." These books offer literature lovers and scholars an opportunity to understand, through multiple in-depth conversations with masters, the cross-pollinating ideas, techniques, and personalities that have shaped literature as we know it over the last seven decades.

Live readings and conversations enable writers and artists to connect with audiences in real time, and readers to deepen their engagement with the work we publish.

Our public programming includes live “Writers at Work” interviews, conversations between our editors and contributors about work they’ve published in The Paris Review and elsewhere, and celebrations of new issues featuring readings by and conversations between editors and contributors. We partner with a range of arts and cultural organizations in our hometown of New York to host events.

Our podcast offers a rich audio literary experience, immersing listeners in a mix of archival and recent stories, poems, and interview excerpts from The Paris Review, read by authors and actors. There is no host--rather than telling listeners about literature, we invite them to experience it directly. Seasons 1-3 are available for free download on Stitcher.

Our digital short film series, "My First Time," is a natural companion to the “Writers at Work” series." My First Time” films interview major authors about the trials and triumphs of completing a first book, providing writers with a unique opportunity to engage the public on film, and allowing viewers a glimpse of great writers' early experiences. The films also support emerging writers, as they recognize universal challenges and provide companionship, reassurance, and encouragement to those who are still struggling. Season 1 of “My First Time” is available free on our YouTube channel.

Our email newsletters, which reach roughly 175,000 readers each week, offer free public access to prose, poetry, interviews, and portfolios from our digitized magazine archive.

“Paris Review Poetry” delivers a single, complete poem directly to newsletter subscribers’ inboxes every day.

“Paris Review Redux” announces a new selection of unlocked pieces on our website (one interview, one prose work, and one poem) every week.

These rotating, carefully curated selections of free content allow us to serve all literature lovers, regardless of ability to pay for a full print subscription. To maximize audience awareness of free content beyond newsletter subscribers, “Paris Review Redux” selections are also posted on our website every week.

In addition, our podcast, films, and digital-original content are always free, as are some public programs.

We offer paid, full-time editorial internships for people who are interested in the business and artistic practice of literary publishing. Over the course of a six-month term, editorial interns work closely with senior editorial staff and learn every aspect of magazine production.