New Yorker: Fiction: Recent Episodes
The New Yorker
Edwidge Danticat joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Two Men Arrive in a Village,” by Zadie Smith, which was published in The New Yorker in 2016. Danticat, a MacArthur Fellow and a winner of the Vilcek Prize in Literature, has published six books of fiction, including “Breath, Eyes, Memory,” “The Farming of Bones,” “Claire of the Sea Light,” and “Everything Inside.” Her memoir “Brother, I’m Dying” won the National Book Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, among others. She has been publishing fiction and nonfiction in The New Yorker since 1999.
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Yiyun Li joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “The Piano Tuner’s Wives,” by William Trevor, which was published in The New Yorker in 1995. Li has published eight books of fiction, including the novels “Must I Go” and “Book of Goose,” a winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and the story collection “Wednesday’s Child,” which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2024. A new nonfiction work, “Things in Nature Merely Grow,” will be published this month.
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
David Wright Faladé joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Lu, Reshaping,” by Madeleine Thien, which was published in The New Yorker in 2021. Falade is the author of the novels “Black Cloud Rising” and “The New Internationals,” and the nonfiction work “Fire on the Beach: Recovering the Lost Story of Richard Etheridge and the Pea Island Lifesavers.” He’s been publishing fiction and nonfiction in The New Yorker since 2020.
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Paul Theroux joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “The Necklace,” by V. S. Pritchett, which was published in The New Yorker in 1958. Theroux’s nonfiction books include “The Great Railway Bazaar” and “On the Plain of Snakes: A Mexican Journey.” A winner of the James Tait Black Award and the Whitbread Prize, he has published thirty-nine books of fiction, including the novels “The Mosquito Coast” and “Burma Sahib” and the story collections “Mr. Bones” and “The Vanishing Point,” which came out earlier this year. He has been publishing fiction and nonfiction in The New Yorker since 1979.
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Anne Enright joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Sierra Leone,” by John McGahern, which was published in The New Yorker in 1977. Enright, a winner of the Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and the Man Booker Prize, among others, has published eleven books of fiction, including the story collection “Yesterday’s Weather” and the novels “Actress” and “The Wren, The Wren.” She has been publishing fiction in The New Yorker since 2000.
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Jennifer Egan joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Kat,” by Margaret Atwood, which was published in The New Yorker in 1990. Egan’s books of fiction include “The Keep,” “A Visit from the Goon Squad,” “Manhattan Beach,” and “The Candy House.” She is a winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Pulitzer Prize, and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, among other honors. She has been publishing fiction and nonfiction in The New Yorker since 1989.
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices
Ayşegül Savaş joins Deborah Treisman to discuss “An Abduction,” by Tessa Hadley, which was published in The New Yorker in 2012. Savaş has published three novels, “Walking on the Ceiling,” “White on White,” and “The Anthropologists,” and one nonfiction book, “The Wilderness,” an essay and memoir about the first forty days of motherhood. A collection of stories, “Long Distance,” will come out in 2025. She has been publishing fiction in The New Yorker since 2019.
Aleksandar Hemon joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere,” by ZZ Packer, which was published in The New Yorker in 2000. Hemon, a winner of a MacArthur Fellowship and a PEN/W. G. Sebald Award, among others, is the author of eight books, including the novels “The Lazarus Project” and “The World and All It Holds,” the story collection “Love and Obstacles,” and two nonfiction works, “The Book of My Lives” and “My Parents: an Introduction.”
Share your thoughts on The New Yorker’s Fiction Podcast. As a token of our appreciation, you will be eligible to enter a prize drawing up to $1,000 after you complete the survey.
https://selfserve.decipherinc.com/survey/selfserve/222b/76152?pin=1&uBRANDLINK=4&uCHANNELLINK=2
Rebecca Makkai joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “The Third and Final Continent,” by Jhumpa Lahiri, which was published in The New Yorker in 1999. Makkai is the author of the story collection “Music for Wartime” and the novels “The Borrower,” “The Hundred Year House,” “The Great Believers,” for which she won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and “I Have Some Questions for You,” which was published last year.
Louise Erdrich joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Haunting Olivia,” by Karen Russell, which was published in The New Yorker in 2005. Erdrich's novels include “The Round House,” which won the National Book Award in 2012, and “The Night Watchman,” which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2021. She will publish a new novel, “The Mighty Red,” this fall.
David Sedaris joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Love Letter,” by George Saunders, which was published in The New Yorker in 2020. Sedaris is the author of more than a dozen books of essays, memoirs, and diaries, including, most recently, “A Carnival of Snackery” and “Happy-Go-Lucky.”
Nathan Englander joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Every Night for a Thousand Years,” by Chris Adrian, which was published in The New Yorker in 1997. Englander is the author of five books of fiction, including the novel “kaddish.com” and the story collection “What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank,” which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2013.
André Alexis joins Deborah Treisman for a special tribute to Alice Munro, who died in May at age ninety-two. Alexis reads and discusses “Before the Change,” by Munro, which was published in The New Yorker in 1998. Alexis’s works of fiction include “Fifteen Dogs,” which won the Giller Prize, “Days by Moonlight,” and the story collection “The Night Piece,” which was published in 2020.
Rachel Cusk joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “The Bible” and “The Stolen Pigeons,” by Marguerite Duras, which were translated, from the French, by Deborah Treisman and published in The New Yorker in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Cusk is a winner of the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Somerset Maugham Award, and is the author of five books of nonfiction and twelve novels, including “Arlington Park,” “Outline,” “Transit,” “Kudos,” and “Parade,” which will be published in June.
David Bezmozgis joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Likes,” by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum, which was published in The New Yorker in 2017. Bezmozgis is a filmmaker and writer. He has published two story collections and two novels, “The Free World,” which was a finalist for the Governor General's Award and the Giller Prize, and “The Betrayers,” which won the National Jewish Book Award. He was also chosen as one of The New Yorker's 20 Under 40 in 2010.
Greg Jackson joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Safari,” by Jennifer Egan, which was published in The New Yorker in 2010. Jackson has published a story collection, “Prodigals,” and a novel “The Dimension of a Cave,” which was one of The New Yorker's Best Books of 2023. He has been publishing in the magazine since 2014.
Sterling HolyWhiteMountain joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Labyrinth,” by Roberto Bolaño, translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews, which was published in The New Yorker in 2012. HolyWhiteMountain is a Jones Lecturer at Stanford, and grew up on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana.
Sterling HolyWhiteMountain joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Labyrinth,” by Roberto Bolaño, translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews, which was published in The New Yorker in 2012. HolyWhiteMountain is a Jones Lecturer at Stanford, and grew up on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana.
In the two hundredth episode of the New Yorker Fiction Podcast, Rivka Galchen joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “The Bees, Part 1,” by Aleksandar Hemon, which was published in The New Yorker in 2002. Galchen’s books include the story collection “American Innovations” and the novel “Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch.”
In the two hundredth episode of the New Yorker Fiction Podcast, Rivka Galchen joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “The Bees, Part 1,” by Aleksandar Hemon, which was published in The New Yorker in 2002. Galchen’s books include the story collection “American Innovations” and the novel “Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch.”
Teju Cole joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “1=1,” by Anne Carson, which was published in The New Yorker in 2016. Cole’s novels include “Open City” and “Tremor,” which was published this year.
Teju Cole joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “1=1,” by Anne Carson, which was published in The New Yorker in 2016. Cole’s novels include “Open City” and “Tremor,” which was published this year.
Margaret Atwood joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Varieties of Exile,” by Mavis Gallant, which was published in The New Yorker in 1976. Atwood is the author of more than forty books of poetry and fiction, including the novels “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Testaments” and the story collection “Old Babes in the Wood,” which was published earlier this year. This is the first episode of the New Yorker Fiction Podcast to be recorded in front of a live audience. It was taped at the Hot Docs podcast festival, in Toronto, on October 21, 2023.
Margaret Atwood joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “Varieties of Exile,” by Mavis Gallant, which was published in The New Yorker in 1976. Atwood is the author of more than forty books of poetry and fiction, including the novels “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Testaments” and the story collection “Old Babes in the Wood,” which was published earlier this year. This is the first episode of the New Yorker Fiction Podcast to be recorded in front of a live audience. It was taped at the Hot Docs podcast festival, in Toronto, on October 21, 2023.
Rivka Galchen joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss Isaac Bashevis Singer's "The Cafeteria," from a 1968 issue of the magazine.
Andrew O'Hagan joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss Edna O'Brien's "The Widow," from a 1989 issue of the magazine.
Lydia Davis joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss Robert Gorham Davis's “Then We’ll Set it Right,” from a 1943 issue of the magazine.
Allan Gurganus joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss Grace Paley’s “My Father Addresses Me on the Facts of Old Age,” from a 2002 issue of the magazine.
Lionel Shriver joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss T. C. Boyle’s “Chicxulub,” from a 2004 issue of the magazine.
Sam Lipsyte joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss James Purdy’s “About Jessie Mae,” from a 1957 issue of the magazine.
Yiyun Li joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss Patricia Highsmith’s “The Trouble with Mrs. Blynn, the Trouble with the World,” from a 2002 issue of the magazine.
Michael Cunningham joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss Harold Brodkey’s “Dumbness Is Everything,” from a 1996 issue of the magazine.
Joshua Ferris joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss Robert Coover’s “Going for a Beer,” from a 2011 issue of the magazine.
Thomas McGuane joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss David Means’s “The Tree Line, Kansas, 1934,” from a 2010 issue of the magazine.
Etgar Keret joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss Donald Barthelme’s “Chablis,” from a 1983 issue of the magazine.
Antonya Nelson joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss Tom Drury’s “Accident at the Sugar Beet,” from a 1992 issue of the magazine.
Joseph O’Neill joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss Muriel Spark’s “The Ormolu Clock,” from a 1960 issue of the magazine.
Aleksandar Hemon joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss Vladimir Nabokov’s “Pnin,” from a 1953 issue of the magazine.
David Gilbert joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss Steven Polansky’s “Leg,” from a 1994 issue of the magazine.
George Saunders joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss Grace Paley’s “Love,” from a 1979 issue of the magazine, and Barry Hannah’s “The Wretched Seventies,” from a 1996 issue.
Akhil Sharma joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss Tobias Wolff’s “The Night In Question,” from a 1996 issue of the magazine.
Joyce Carol Oates joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss Cynthia Ozick’s “The Shawl,” from a 1980 issue of the magazine.
Miranda July joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss Janet Frame’s “Prizes,” from a 1962 issue of the magazine.
Rebecca Curtis joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss Leonard Michaels’s “The Penultimate Conjecture,” from a 1999 issue of the magazine.
Paul Theroux reads "The Letter Writers," by Elizabeth Taylor, which appeared in The New Yorker in 1958.
Jonathan Safran Foer reads Amos Oz's "The King of Norway," which first appeared in The New Yorker in 2011.
On this month's fiction podcast, Louise Erdrich reads "Mastiff," by Joyce Carol Oates, which appeared in the magazine in 2013. Erdrich's latest book, "The Round House," won the National Book Award in 2012.
On this month's fiction podcast, Jonathan Lethem reads "The Rescue," by V. S. Pritchett, which was first published in The New Yorker in 1973 and can be found in Pritchett's "Complete Collected Stories." (Lethem's most recent fiction in the magazine, "The Gray Goose," was excerpted from his new novel, "Dissident Gardens.") In his discussion with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman, Lethem says that Pritchett is a "total sorcerer," a writer who lets readers into a world that seems stable and then "pulls the rug out from under" them, changing where the story is going and what they think of the characters. "The Rescue," which is narrated by a sixteen-year-old girl whose mother brings home an awkward boy named Ellis to help her plan the town's annual pageant, is, according to Lethem, a perfect model for the way Pritchett tends to "overturn expectations."
In this month's fiction podcast, Tessa Hadley reads "City Lovers," a story by the South African writer and 1991 Nobel Prize winner Nadine Gordimer. The story, which was published in The New Yorker in 1975, focusses on a love affair between a white man and a "colored" woman in Apartheid South Africa. It's deeply political in its details--the man is a geologist at a mining company, the couple's affair is illegal, and they cover it up by pretending that she is his servant. But Gordimer writes with a focussed intimacy that makes the piece a tragic love story rather than a political morality tale. "One of the things I think she can teach us," says Hadley, "is how to write politically without becoming shrill."
Maile Meloy reads Laurie Colwin's "Mr. Parker" and discusses it with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman. "Mr. Parker" was published in the April 14, 1973, issue of The New Yorker and can be found in "Passion and Affect." Maile Meloy's novels include "Liars and Saints" and "A Family Daughter."
James Salter reads Reynolds Price's "His Final Mother" and discusses it with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman. "His Final Mother" was published in the May 21, 1990, issue of The New Yorker and can be found in "Reynolds Price: The Collected Stories." James Salter's novels include "The Hunters" and "Light Years."
Dave Eggers reads Roddy Doyle's "Bullfighting," and discusses it with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman. "Bullfighting" was published in the April 28, 2008, issue of The New Yorker and can be found in "Bullfighting: Stories." Dave Eggers's new novel, "A Hologram for the King," comes out this month.
Matthew Klam reads Charles D'Ambrosio's "The Point" and discusses it with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman. "The Point" was published in the October 1, 1990, issue of The New Yorker and was the title story of D'Ambrosio's first collection. Matthew Klam's most recent book of stories is "Sam the Cat."
Colm Toibin reads Sylvia Townsend Warner's "The Children's Grandmother," and discusses it with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman. "The Children's Grandmother" was published in the November 25, 1950, issue of The New Yorker and can be found in "Winter in the Air and Other Stories." Colm Toibin's most recent collection of stories is "The Empty Family."
Nicole Krauss reads Bruno Schulz's "Father's Last Escape," and discusses it with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman. "Father's Last Escape" was published in the January 2, 1978, issue of The New Yorker and can be found in "The Street of Crocodiles and Other Stories"; David Grossman wrote about Schulz in the June 8, 2009, issue. Nicole Krauss's most recent book, "Great House," was excerpted in the the magazine's 20 Under 40 issue.
Thomas Beller reads Niccolo Tucci's "The Evolution of Knowledge," and discusses it with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman. "The Evolution of Knowledge" was published in the April 12, 1947, issue of The New Yorker and can be found in "The Rain Came Last & Other Stories." Thomas Beller is the author of "How to Be a Man: Scenes from a Protracted Boyhood."
Tea Obreht reads Stephanie Vaughn's "Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog," and discusses it with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman. "Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog" was published in the June 5, 1978, issue of The New Yorker and can be found in "Sweet Talk," which will be reissued in 2012. Tea Obreht is the author of the novel "The Tiger's Wife."
Said Sayrafiezadeh reads Thomas Beller's "A Different Kind of Imperfection," and discusses it with The New Yorker's fiction editor, Deborah Treisman. "A Different Kind of Imperfection" was published in the February 11, 1991, issue of The New Yorker and can be found in "Seduction Theory." Said Sayrafiezadeh is the author of the memoir "When Skateboards Will Be Free."