Salon Audio presents, in conjunction with the literary journal The Paris Review, interviews with artists, and writers reading from their work.

Listen to recordings from the current issue, No. 159:

"Pictures of Friuli" Listen to the poem by Pier Paolo Pasolini, in a new translation by Peter Borten and in the original Italian, read by Pietro Greppi

Wells Tower reads an excerpt from his story, "Down through the Valley."

Adam Kirsch reads two poems, "Arcadia" and "Balsam."

Miles Becker reads four poems, "Musil Sideways," "What Comes After," "The Author Explains An Old Photograph," and "Lied."

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The Paris Review Archives:

How are you, Mr. Blue? Garrison Keillor talks about his method of writing and the genesis of his tales of Lake Wobegon
Interview by George Plimpton

Hunter S. Thompson A rare interview with Hunter S. Thompson by George Plimpton, Douglas Brinkley and Terry McDonell at Thompson's Colorado ranch
Interview by The Paris Review

Hunter S. Thompson, Part 2 More from the exclusive interview with the gonzo journalist about the origin of "Fear and Loathing" and more
Interview by The Paris Review

Hippies George Plimpton reads from Denis Johnson's essay "Hippies," an exploration of drugs, friendships and alternative lifestyles
By Denis Johnson

Heroin Sheikh "Basketball Diaries" author and musician Jim Carroll reads "Heroin" and other poems published in the Paris Review

"Total Cave Darkness" In this story featured in the Paris Review, an alcoholic woman runs away with a Protestant minister
Read by Ann Hood

Galway Kinnell's work first appeared in the Paris Review in 1965. Here he reads "Another Night in the Ruins" and other poems.

Words and wars The late poet Stephen Spender speaks with Dick Cavett about poetry and politics in a 1995 interview
Interview by The Paris Review

Le Carré the spy John Le Carré talks about working in the "secret world" during the Cold War and why he's a total bore
Interview by George Plimpton

E.L. Doctorow The author tells George Plimpton why he believes that it isn't necessary to go to war to become a writer
Interview by George Plimpton

Nicole Krauss reads two poems, "Valparaiso" and "The Idea of Helen," that appeared in the "New Writers" issue of the Review, No. 158.

Charlie Smith reads "Los Dos Rancheros," which appeared in issue 155 of the Paris Review.

Rachel Wetzsteon reads "Home and Away," a poem that appeared in issue 143 of the Paris Review.

David Yezzi reads "Upon Julia's Breasts" which appeared in Issue 154 of the Paris Review as part of "Pomework: An Exercise in Occasional Poetry."

Agha Shahid Ali reads his poem "The Purser-Seiner Atlantis," which will appear in issue 155 of the Paris Review

Priscilla Becker The poet and schoolteacher reads about the harsh reality in childhood drawings and offers "a translation from English to English"

Monica Ferrell reads four poems that appeared in the "New Writers" issue of the Review, No. 158.

Matthew Vollmer reads an excerpt from his story "Oh Land of National Paradise, How Glorious Are Thy Bounties," which appeared in the "New Writers" issue of the Review, No. 158.

Matthea Harvey reads her poem "Thermae," which appeared in issue No. 154 of the Paris Review

Richard Matthews reads four poems from his "Cavafy Suite," which appeared in the "New Writers" issue of the Review, No. 158.

Patricia Ferrell reads her poem "My Institutionals," which appeared in the "New Writers" issue of the Review, No. 158.

Daniel Kunitz reads "Geniza," a poem that was published in issue No. 148 of the Paris Review

Max Winter reads "Apocrypha," which appeared in issue 154 of the Paris Review.

Thomas Healy reads his poems "And Now" and "Phocion's Wife," which appeared in the "New Writers" issue of the Review, No. 158.

The Paris Review was founded in the summer of 1953 by Peter Matthiessen, Harold L. Humes and George Plimpton. The young writers, who were living in Paris, conceived of a new review that would feature original works of fiction and poetry rather than "writing about writing."

It fell to William Styron, then as now one of the advisory editors of the magazine, to state the purpose of The Paris Review. His Letter to the Editor appeared in the first issue. "Dear reader," he wrote, "The Paris Review hopes to emphasize creative work -- fiction and poetry -- not to the exclusion of criticism, but with the aim in mind of merely removing criticism from the dominating place it holds in most literary magazines and putting it pretty much where it belongs, i.e., somewhere near the back of the book. I think The Paris Review should welcome these people into its pages: the good writers and good poets, the non-drumbeaters and non axe-grinders. So long as they're good."

Despite its long history and its long masthead, The Paris Review always has been a small operation with an itinerant existence. George Plimpton recalled the various offices of the magazine: "First the board room in the basement of Les Editions de la Table Ronde; the room in the auto-rental agency in the rue Vernet on the right bank near the Champs-Elysees; and then finally the office of the Gallimard company on the rue Tournon." In 1973, the Paris Review moved to New York -- to the little ground-floor office on the East River with the lion-trainer's chair hanging from the ceiling -- where it remains today.