The Paris Review

The Paris Review’s seven-decade history reveals how a magazine founded in postwar Paris became one of the most influential engines of contemporary literature. Through its groundbreaking interviews, early publication of writers who later defined entire movements, and a prize system that offers tangible support to emerging talent, the magazine has shaped both the craft and the careers of generations of authors. Its ongoing editorial approach, rooted in curiosity and a commitment to new voices, continues to guide the direction of modern writing.

Since its founding in Paris in 1953 by Peter Matthiessen, Harold L. Humes, and George Plimpton, The Paris Review has remained one of the most influential forces in contemporary literature, shaping taste, nurturing new talent, and defining the contours of modern literary culture. From the earliest issues—published in cramped Left Bank apartments before the magazine relocated to New York in 1973—the editors committed themselves to a mission that has never wavered:, celebrating the craft of writing by placing the writer, not the critic, at the center of the page.

From the start, the magazine distinguished itself by rejecting the prevailing academic tone of postwar literary journals. Its founders believed that stories, poems, and interviews should reach readers without the mediation of scholarly interpretation. That philosophy defined the launch of its now-iconic Writers at Work series, beginning with an interview with E. M. Forster in the inaugural issue. The series has since grown into an extraordinary archive of more than four hundred interviews with figures such as Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Toni Morrison, and Jorge Luis Borges—an unparalleled documentary record of how some of the most acclaimed writers of the past century understood their own work.

The magazine’s editorial vision quickly made it a proving ground for new voices. Within its first years, The Paris Review published early work by writers who would later become central figures in American and global literature, including Jack Kerouac, Adrienne Rich, Philip Roth, and V. S. Naipaul. Its pages offered a rare mix: established literary giants in conversation with editors, emerging writers finding their footing, and experimental voices pushing against the limits of form.

That combination of artistic ambition and editorial rigor has sustained the magazine’s reputation for more than seven decades. With each issue, The Paris Review continues to expand the possibilities of contemporary storytelling, serving as both a repository of literary history and a launchpad for the next generation of groundbreaking writers.

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Origins and Founding Vision

The Paris Review began as a far scrappier enterprise than its later reputation suggests. Before the magazine published its first issue, its founders were holding meetings in borrowed flats, scraping together funds, and navigating the cultural politics of postwar Europe. George Plimpton, then in his mid-twenties, acted as editor, fundraiser, and ambassador, convincing writers and patrons alike that a magazine built around the writer’s craft could survive outside the established literary academies. Peter Matthiessen, later known for his novels and environmental activism, simultaneously served as managing editor while working as a covert operative for the CIA’s Congress for Cultural Freedom—a complication he did not reveal until years later. The magazine’s earliest pages were assembled in an environment that mixed idealism, improvisation, and geopolitical undercurrents.

Long before the publication gained international stature, the founders were testing what a literary magazine could be if freed from institutional oversight. They resisted the familiar patterns of mid-century American publishing, where magazines were often shaped by university departments or commercial houses. Instead, they experimented with formats, cultivated correspondents across Europe and the United States, and built a publication that relied on personal networks rather than established gatekeepers. The magazine’s early issues reflected that independence. Contributors ranged from writers living in Paris boardinghouses to American expatriates sending manuscripts through unreliable postal channels.

This early improvisation forged a sensibility that would define The Paris Review for decades. Rather than position themselves as arbiters of literary culture, the editors saw the magazine as a gathering space for new work, candid conversations, unusual forms, and voices that did not yet fit neatly into the literary marketplace. The publication’s identity grew from this willingness to operate outside traditional power structures, relying on curiosity, mobility, and editorial instinct rather than institutional authority. That foundation set the stage for the magazine’s evolution into one of the world’s most dynamic literary platforms.

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Writers at Work Series

The Writers at Work interviews have long functioned as a working archive for anyone serious about the craft. Unlike promotional conversations built around a book release, these interviews are assembled through patient, repeated exchanges that allow writers to speak with clarity about the mechanics of their work. The editors treat each interview as a primary document: a record of how writing is made rather than how it is marketed.

For writers, the value lies in the precision with which the interviews capture what they do. They reveal the actual conditions under which authors draft, revise, and make decisions on the page. W. S. Merwin describes cutting entire manuscripts to find the line of thought he had missed. Elizabeth Hardwick explains how she rearranged paragraphs until the argument held. Donald Barthelme breaks down the structural problems that delayed several stories for years. The series offers rare candor about the unglamorous parts of the work—false starts, abandoned structures, revisions that required dismantling a piece from the inside out.

The interviews also make visible the kind of editorial conversations that shape published work. Writers speak plainly about the interventions that strengthened a story, the edits they resisted, and the choices that refocused a manuscript. This transparency is unusually useful for emerging authors because it dismantles the assumption that strong writing arrives fully formed. Instead, the interviews show how writers and editors push a piece toward its final form through scrutiny, negotiation, and sustained effort.

Another strength of the series is the way it documents artistic inheritance. The editors ask writers to name the books that altered their thinking, the stylistic problems they wanted to solve, and the traditions they felt compelled to revise. The result is a record of influence traced with unusual specificity, allowing readers to see how certain techniques move across generations.

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Launching Careers

From its earliest years, The Paris Review developed a reputation as the place where major writers first surfaced. Within its first five years, the magazine published early work by Jack Kerouac, V. S. Naipaul, Philip Roth, and Adrienne Rich—writers who would go on to reshape American and global literature. Kerouac’s appearance in the magazine preceded the publication of On the Road and positioned him as a defining voice of postwar American writing. Roth’s stories in The Paris Review helped create the momentum that led to Goodbye, Columbus and a career marked by literary awards and critical authority. Rich’s early poems, printed before her landmark collections, announced a voice that would become central to twentieth-century feminist and political poetry.

This pattern did not fade with time. In recent decades, the magazine introduced readers to David Foster Wallace, Zadie Smith, and Ottessa Moshfegh long before their books became fixtures of contemporary literature. Emma Cline published work in the magazine prior to releasing The Girls, and Moshfegh’s early fiction in the journal preceded Eileen and her subsequent international recognition. When Pentagram redesigned the magazine in 2021, its creative brief noted that The Paris Review had “helped launch the careers of many of the world’s most influential writers,” a statement borne out by decades of documented trajectories.

The magazine’s influence extends beyond the page. Its editorial internship program has become a training ground for early-career writers and editors, with former interns moving into roles at major publishing houses, literary magazines, and influential cultural institutions. This pipeline has quietly shaped the next generation of gatekeepers as well as the next generation of authors.

The magazine’s pages continue to introduce writers who later gain major recognition. Brandon Taylor’s early work in The Paris Review preceded Real Life, which went on to be shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Raven Leilani’s fiction appeared before Luster became one of the most discussed debuts of the decade. Such examples reflect a consistent editorial instinct: the magazine’s ability to recognize distinctive voices long before the broader literary world takes notice.

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Literary Legacy

Part of what distinguishes The Paris Review is the way its editorial decisions have shaped the broader literary landscape far beyond the magazine itself. Its prizes and fellowships have created an infrastructure that supports writers long after their first appearance in its pages. These programs function less as ceremonial honors and more as working tools that provide time, resources, and editorial partnership at moments when writers often need them most.

The magazine’s fiction and poetry prizes signal a specific aspect of the publishing world.

Agents, editors, and graduate programs track these awards closely, knowing that the pieces selected often mark a shift in a writer’s development. The Plimpton Prize for Fiction, for instance, has spotlighted writers whose early work later formed the backbone of acclaimed debut books. The Terry Southern Prize for Humor highlights a part of the literary field that few institutions take seriously, giving comic and formally offbeat work a place where it can be judged on craft rather than novelty. The Poetry Prize identifies poems that hold up under intense editorial scrutiny, often leading to further publication, fellowship opportunities, or invitations to perform and teach.

The magazine’s writer-in-residence fellowship has filled a gap left by shrinking institutional support across the literary world. The fellowship provides months of concentrated time for a substantial project, a rare opportunity in an era when most writers balance creative work with full-time jobs. Recipients describe the combination of financial stability and ongoing editorial dialogue as catalytic, allowing them to complete projects that might otherwise stall for years.

In addition to these formal programs, The Paris Review exerts influence through the steady discovery and cultivation of writers who later define new literary movements. The magazine’s submission process, open throughout the year, has allowed writers working outside traditional networks to secure publication based solely on the strength of the work. This open-door policy has helped surface voices that later shaped contemporary fiction, poetry, and literary nonfiction in ways that ripple through the field.

Taken together, these initiatives form a legacy that extends far beyond the printed page. They create a pipeline of opportunity that supports writers from their earliest breakthroughs through the long, demanding process of building a career. For many writers, The Paris Review is not only a publication credit but a turning point that alters the trajectory of their work.

For more on writing contests, literary awards, and career-building opportunities at The Paris Review, continue reading: The Paris Review: Annual Writing Contests, Literary Awards & Opportunities.

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Its Place in Contemporary Literature

The influence of The Paris Review rests not only on whom it has published but on how it has shaped the habits of reading and writing across generations. The magazine functions as a meeting point between rigorous editorial standards and the unpredictable energy of new work, creating a space where writers can take risks knowing their efforts will be read with care. Its pages often reveal the early contours of shifts in style, subject, and form, long before they reach the mainstream.

The publication’s presence in classrooms and workshops has also had a measurable effect on literary education. Teachers rely on its interviews to show students how writers think on a sentence-by-sentence level, and its stories and poems consistently appear in syllabi that aim to demonstrate contemporary technique. In this way, the magazine has shaped not only careers but curricula, influencing how young writers learn to read as practitioners rather than spectators.

Beyond academia, The Paris Review has become a reference point for editors and publishers who look to its pages to identify emerging patterns in contemporary writing. Its selections often signal where literary attention is moving—toward new geographies, new voices, or new structural experiments. The magazine’s ability to detect and nurture these directions has given it a reputation as an early indicator of what will matter in the coming decade.

For working writers, the magazine remains a benchmark of artistic seriousness. An acceptance signals that a piece has been held to exacting standards, and it often leads to opportunities that expand a writer’s reach. For readers, it offers a steady record of how the field evolves, preserving the texture of each era without losing sight of the magazine’s broader editorial vision.

This combination of discernment, continuity, and openness keeps The Paris Review central to contemporary literature. It serves as a living record of how writing changes, how writers grow, and how a single publication can help shape the direction of an art form.