Is Philadelphia a new literary mecca? What's better than television, more exciting than baseball? This issue is devoted to probing these questions, and more.
July/August 1989
Features
Philadelphia: Literary Mecca?
Grassroots reading series and workshops have sprung up, providing a working outlet for emerging poets and fiction writers.
The Nobel Lecture: Art Is Generous and Sympathetic
The acceptance speech of the recipient of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature.
How I Won the Nobel Prize (for Naguib Mahfouz)
How one writer helped a fellow author to get his works translated—and ultimately to win the Nobel Prize.
How to Start a Reading Series
This article, along with the profile of the Shaker Museum readings, begins a series on organizing and giving readings.
Better than TV, More Exciting Than Baseball—The Shaker Museum Reading Series
A writer devotes energy, emotion, and "days of unpaid labor" to start a successful reading series in upstate New York.
News and Trends
Poetry Software Maps Out Rhymes
Poetry Processor software, developed by Paris Review contributing editor Michael Newman, maps out poetic forms.
Writers' Room Opens in Boston
A community writing space opens up in Boston's cultural district.