Spellbinding short stories by established and emerging writers take on a new life when they are performed by stars of the stage and screen. Whether we present stories around a lively theme, the favorite works of a guest author or a special collaboration with a museum or publication, each Selected Shorts event is a unique night of literature in performance.
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On (the day after) Lydia Davis' birthday, look back on some of her best interviews for sage advice about writing, life, and more.
Over the years, Lydia Davis has gifted us with dozens of interviews chronicling her relationship to literature, laying out her writing process, and analyzing the many craft-related choices that wri…
Screenwriter Charlie Kauffman, whose debut novel "Antkind" hit the shelves earlier this month, gives a cheeky interview about the books on his beside table (aka, the floor next to his sleeping bag), his fantasy dinner party guests, and more:
“I’m fairly certain I just swallowed a tooth.”
In Alba de Céspedes' “Invitation to Dinner," a married couple hopes to restore pre-World War II elegance. Actor Dawn Akemi Saito reads the story on this week's episode of Selected Shorts, which features tales from the new Penguin Classics Book of Italian Short Stories, edited by Jhumpa Lahiri. Listen here: https://bit.ly/3gJl3CI
Virtual Selected Shorts is on now! Tune in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEqrKFGVHfU
At a time of grand upheaval, Selected Shorts makes room for life’s minor insurrections. The people in these stories want to change, and they’ll buck social n...
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It has recently come to my attention that Jane Austen’s former Bath home is available to rent for your writing retreat/pandemic escape plan through Airbnb. You can sleep under the same roof (…
See you tonight for Virtual Selected Shorts: Little Rebellions! Be sure to set your reminder on YouTube here:
At a time of grand upheaval, Selected Shorts makes room for life’s minor insurrections. The people in these stories want to change, and they’ll buck social n...
"Black abolitionist David Ruggles opened the first Black-owned bookstore in 1834, pointing the way to freedom—in more ways than one... it is said that Ruggles would help 'more than 1000 men and women to escape from slavery.'"
Black abolitionist David Ruggles opened the first Black-owned bookstore in 1834, pointing the way to freedom—in more ways than one.
This week on Selected Shorts, we read stories from the magnificent collection from Penguin Classics, 'The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories,' edited by Jhumpa Lahiri. The great John Turturro performs Leonardo Sciascia’s “The Long Voyage,” a tale about hopeful peasants try to make it to a mysterious place called “Trenton.” Find the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://bit.ly/3gJl3CI
The publishing industry is entering into a "rare moment of transformation that promises to influence the books put out into the world," as new, diverse appointments in high ranking positions begin to move in, including Lisa Lucas, the former executive director of the National Book Foundation, who will transition to become the publisher of Pantheon and Schocken Books.
A wave of deaths and retirements prompted publishers to name new leaders. Now the industry is in a rare moment of transformation that promises to influence the books put out into the world.
Tomorrow! Selected Shorts returns with another virtual installment, this time featuring stories all about life's little rebellions. Join Jane Kaczmarek, Nate Corddry, Ann Dowd, and Randall Park at 7:30 on our YouTube channel. Learn more:
Symphony Space is a performing arts center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan offering theater, film, literature, music, dance and family entertainment. Our mission is to connect art, ideas, and community through our programs and our commitment to literacy and education through the arts.
We're so excited to welcome both new and familiar faces to this week's virtual Selected Shorts! Jane Kaczmarek, Nate Corddry, Ann Dowd, and Randall Park come together for an evening of stories about life’s minor insurrections during a time of great upheaval. Learn more about this week's Virtual Selected Shorts: Little Rebellions here: https://bit.ly/38IVwH3
"...I wonder if a passing glance at my dead
mother is enough to make a poet out of anyone. I wonder
if I’m the song she hums as she waits for the light to change
or if I’m just the traffic signal holding her up."
Read author Saeed Jones' new poem in The New Yorker:
“I wonder if my dead mother still thinks of me.”
This week on Shorts, #HughDancy gives a dazzling performance of Massimo Bontempelli’s “The Miraculous Beach, or, Prize for Modesty.” The story was selected from The Penguin Classics Book of Italian Short Stories, edited by Jhumpa Lahiri. Find the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://bit.ly/3gJl3CI
"Toby didn’t know if he himself was a miracle or if he was on borrowed time. He had no symptoms, even after working in a hospital at the hot-zone height of this thing."
Read the quarantine sequel to Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s best-selling novel "Fleishman Is in Trouble" in The Cut:
A sequel, exclusive to the Cut, in which Dr. Toby Fleishman works through the pandemic at a New York hospital.
On our newest episode of Selected Shorts, guest host Hope Davis presents a program of Italian short fiction selected by the novelist and short-story writer Jhumpa Lahiri, drawn from The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories, which Lahiri edited. John Turturro performs the story “The Long Voyage” by Leonardo Sciascia. Alba de Céspedes' story "Invitation to Dinner” is performed by Dawn Akemi Saito, and Hugh Dancy closes out the episode with a reading of Massimo Bontempelli’s “The Miraculous Beach, or, Prize for Modesty." Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://bit.ly/3gJl3CI
Penguin Classics
In their new book, long-time friends Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman "describe intense friendships as one of life’s foundations, neglected at our peril and, likely, our regret."
In their new book, “Big Friendship,” Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman make the case that platonic relationships deserve as much effort and tending as romantic ones.
We love S. Epatha Merkerson's incredible performance in our Toni Morrison episode of Selected Shorts! Merkerson lends her talents to an excerpt of Morrison's brilliant novel "Jazz." Find the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://bit.ly/38CasXz
On our episode of Selected Shorts celebrating the great Toni Morrison, Phylicia Ayers-Allen Rashad gives a stunning reading from an excerpt of Morrison's novel "Sweetness." Find the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://bit.ly/38CasXz
Author Tayari Jones reads Toni Morrison's brilliant essay “A Knowing So Deep" on this week's episode of Selected Shorts. Find the episode, which includes more wonderful performances of Morrison's works by her friends, colleagues, and admirers, wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://bit.ly/38CasXz
“Tiny Reparations Books will be a highly curated imprint dedicated to publishing both literary fiction and nonfiction as well as essay collections that highlight and amplify unique and diverse voices."
We ❤️ Phoebe Robinson and are so excited for her new imprint!
Today, Penguin Random House announced the launch of a new imprint, Tiny Reparations Books, founded by New York Times bestselling author, comedian, actress, and producer Phoebe Robinson. Robinson wi…
This week on Selected Shorts, we celebrate late literary icon Toni Morrison. Host Tayari Jones presents a program featuring performances of Morrison's works by friends, colleagues, and admirers, including her essay “A Knowing So Deep” read by Jones, an excerpt from The Bluest Eye performed by Anika Noni Rose, an excerpt from Jazz performed by S. Epatha Merkerson, and “Sweetness” performed by Phylicia Ayers-Allen Rashad. We also hear a tribute from writer Fran Lebowitz, who says that Morrison was “two of my four best friends.” Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://www.symphonyspace.org/selected-shorts/episodes/celebrating-toni-morrison-1
"With its central location in Bjørvika, the new library becomes a vibrant hub—a modern meeting place for learning and exchange of knowledge."
Take a look at Olso's beautiful new public library:
On June 18th, Oslo’s new public library, Deichman Bjørvika, opened its doors to the public. Located on Oslo’s waterfront, and spanning six floors and 140,000 square feet, “Norway’…
"Writing poetry for me was always a political act."
Leading black British poets including Linton Kwesi Johnson, Grace Nichols and Raymond Antrobus share their thoughts on protest, change and the trailblazers who inspired them:
Leading black British poets including Linton Kwesi Johnson, Grace Nichol and Raymond Antrobus share their thoughts on protest, change and the trailblazers who inspired them
"We are here in America now as we have been in America always. When we are struck down and held back. When our bodies are corrupted by the violence of others. When we love. When, as now, we are trapped inside of finitude and flesh. During all of this and then some, Black America, we are agents of the eternal."
Poet Tracy K. Smith’s letter to Black America:
Dear Black America– We are many things, aren’t we? We are hair. God yes, we are hair. And song. And memory. We are a language so deep it has no need for words. And we are words that feint, dart and…
Our next Virtual Selected Shorts is right around the corner! This time around, Jane Kaczmarek hosts an evening featuring stories from authors Amelia Gray, Robert Sheckley, Elizabeth Winthrop, and more, read by actors Ann Dowd, Michael Imperioli, and Randall Park. Learn more:
Symphony Space is a performing arts center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan offering theater, film, literature, music, dance and family entertainment. Our mission is to connect art, ideas, and community through our programs and our commitment to literacy and education through the arts.
A dozen new books to carry you through the long weekend:
Somehow Fourth of July weekend is upon us. While you might not be spending it the way you usually do (big family barbecue, a day at the beach, crammed in the crowds trying to watch the Macy’s…
"An author, literary agent, marketer, publicist, editors and booksellers talk about how race affects their careers — and the books you read." -The New York Times
An author, literary agent, marketer, publicist, editors and booksellers talk about how race affects their careers — and the books you read.
"Not a lot is written about Angelica Schuyler, but when you google her, you'll see her described as a muse. She was famously, extremely intelligent." -Renée Elise Goldsberry
Read about Goldsberry's experience playing Angelica in the original cast of "Hamilton", and the importance of telling history more truthfully:
“There is a responsibility to tell history more truthfully and 'Hamilton' is just the beginning of that journey,” says Goldsberry.
Read about how a retired Cincinnati teacher continues to share stories and build community through her mobile bookstore, The Book Bus:
When Melanie Moore retired, she wanted to open a brick and mortar bookstore. But, wary of the cost, she instead started Cincinnati-based mobile bookstore The Book Bus, doing book pop-ups and, during the COVID-19 pandemic, selling books online and at birthday parties and hosting a Zoom book club.
Books by Octavia Butler, Britt Bennett, Colson Whitehead, and more incredible authors, recommended by booksellers from Black-owned shops:
Black-owned bookstores recommended books on their reading lists, including the latest book from Brit Bennett and a book written in 1645.
“She believes in the itching and the ornery and the oddly shaped, and has been trying to produce fiction that feels as irreducible to simple meanings."
On the “unruly genius” of Joyce Carol Oates:
In an era that fetishizes form, Oates has become America’s preëminent fiction writer by doing everything you’re not supposed to do.
Brit Bennet's bestselling new book, "The Vanishing Half," is getting the HBO limited series treatment, with Bennett as an executive producer. We're so excited to watch!
The network reportedly plans to adapt the book into a limited series.
Celebrate #Pride with our latest episode of Selected Shorts! Guest host Denis O’Hare joins us in honoring the landmark event that helped give birth to the modern movement for LGBTQIA+ rights in America. On this special program, we first hear eyewitness accounts of the riots drawn from The Stonewall Reader. Featuring comments and performances by Ivory Aquino, Kate Bornstein, Michael Early, Beth Malone, Kay Ulanday Barrett, John Benjamin Hickey, and Nancy Podcast's Tobin Low and Kathy Tu. Listen: https://bit.ly/3gcMlBn
"Were my colleagues and I right to think that the institution to which we had given much of our professional lives could be reformed? Was our particular culture as teachers of Western culture compromised to the core? If it was, must we then, well, defund the teaching of the canon?
An honest answer is, for better and worse, complicated."
Robert Zaretsky ruminates on how the Western literary “canon wars” can change in the wake of America's current racial reckoning:
Reforming the Western canon may not go far enough
"While the needs of the community are always changing, people will always need a place to find togetherness, and books to guide the way forward."
On the rich history of LGBTQ+ bookselling in Seattle's Capitol Hill:
The legacy of Bailey/Coy Books ensures on Capitol Hill and in Seattle, where the city's LBGTQ+ literary scene has since flourished.
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In Alba de Céspedes' “Invitation to Dinner," a married couple hopes to restore pre-World War II elegance. Actor Dawn Akemi Saito reads the story on this week's episode of Selected Shorts, which features tales from the new Penguin Classics Book of Italian Short Stories, edited by Jhumpa Lahiri. Listen here: https://bit.ly/3gJl3CI
This week on Selected Shorts, we read stories from the magnificent collection from Penguin Classics, 'The Penguin Book of Italian Short Stories,' edited by Jhumpa Lahiri. The great John Turturro performs Leonardo Sciascia’s “The Long Voyage,” a tale about hopeful peasants try to make it to a mysterious place called “Trenton.” Find the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://bit.ly/3gJl3CI
We're so excited to welcome both new and familiar faces to this week's virtual Selected Shorts! Jane Kaczmarek, Nate Corddry, Ann Dowd, and Randall Park come together for an evening of stories about life’s minor insurrections during a time of great upheaval. Learn more about this week's Virtual Selected Shorts: Little Rebellions here: https://bit.ly/38IVwH3
This week on Shorts, #HughDancy gives a dazzling performance of Massimo Bontempelli’s “The Miraculous Beach, or, Prize for Modesty.” The story was selected from The Penguin Classics Book of Italian Short Stories, edited by Jhumpa Lahiri. Find the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://bit.ly/3gJl3CI
We love S. Epatha Merkerson's incredible performance in our Toni Morrison episode of Selected Shorts! Merkerson lends her talents to an excerpt of Morrison's brilliant novel "Jazz." Find the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://bit.ly/38CasXz
On our episode of Selected Shorts celebrating the great Toni Morrison, Phylicia Ayers-Allen Rashad gives a stunning reading from an excerpt of Morrison's novel "Sweetness." Find the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://bit.ly/38CasXz
Author Tayari Jones reads Toni Morrison's brilliant essay “A Knowing So Deep" on this week's episode of Selected Shorts. Find the episode, which includes more wonderful performances of Morrison's works by her friends, colleagues, and admirers, wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://bit.ly/38CasXz
On this week's episode of Shorts, rumors and recriminations fly in “Belles Lettres,” by Nafissa Thompson-Spires, as rival mothers defend their daughters’ reputations at a posh school--at any cost. The readers are Eboni Booth and Shalewa Sharpe. Find Selected Shorts: Escalation wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://bit.ly/31rF4sW
Haruki Murakami's "Ice Man" is in many ways a traditional love story—except that half of this pair is made of ice. Jane Curtin reads it on this week's edition of Sunday Stories. Listen: https://bit.ly/2AXx48f
On Selected Shorts: Not Your Mother's Love Stories, Sharon Gless performs “Hat Trick” by Edith Pearlman, in which four young girls choose husbands by chance. Find the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://bit.ly/2YNx8iY
On Selected Shorts: Not Your Mother's Love Stories, British writer Jane Gardam twists Hans Christian Andersen’s tale in a saucy reboot of “The Little Mermaid.” Her version, “The Pangs of Love,” is read by Jane Kaczmarek. Find the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://bit.ly/2YNx8iY
Today on Sunday Stories, voting unites the generations in "Taking Miss Kezee to the Polls" by David Haynes. Michael Genet reads this story about a young Election Day volunteer tasked with bringing the fiery Miss Kezee to vote. Listen here: https://bit.ly/3eehKCV
We are thrilled to announce this year’s winner and runners-up of our Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize, as chosen by our guest judge Nicole Chung! Congratulations to Caitlin Campbell and her winning story “Prayer for the Ides of February,” and to runners-up Katy Sewall and Jennifer Jacobson. In light of our canceled spring season of Selected Shorts, we are delighted to share “Prayer for the Ides of February” with you in a very special way—performed virtually by Emily Skeggs. Watch here:
"She Shall Not Be Moved," Shereen Pandit's story about an incident on a London bus, contemplates the reverberations of not speaking up for what is right. Read by the incredible Rita Wolf. Listen: https://bit.ly/2zg5XEO
In this edition of Sunday Stories, immerse yourself in the sights and smells of summertime baseball with W. P. Kinsella's story "The Thrill of the Grass," performed by John Shea. Listen here: https://bit.ly/2XPfhHI
"Afmerica! her home is here; She wants or knows no other home..." On Selected Shorts: I Am America, we examine the nuances of the American experience through stories, essays, and poems, and speeches. Kaneza Schaal performs "Afmerica," a powerful poem by Mary E. Ashe Lee. Find the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://bit.ly/3gpNnL0
On Selected Shorts: I Am America, we examine the nuances of the American experience through stories, essays, and poems, and speeches. Selenis Leyva reads Julia Alvarez's “Speak! Speak!”, an account of the writer facing prejudice and finding her voice. Find the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: bit.ly/3gpNnL0
On Selected Shorts: I Am America, we present stories, essays, and poems, and speeches celebrating America’s diversity and wealth of stories, at a time when we need to know we are together, even when we are apart. Ellen Burstyn lends her immense talent to Elizabeth Strout’s “The Walk,” a story about an aging father pondering his life. Find the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://bit.ly/3gpNnL0
On Selected Shorts: I Am America, we present stories, essays, and poems, and speeches celebrating America’s diversity and wealth of stories, at a time when we need to know we are together, even when we are apart. Kaneza Schaal reads an excerpt from Sojourner Truth's "Speech Delivered to the Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio." Find the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://bit.ly/3gpNnL0
Fables and foibles abound on Selected Shorts: Fractured Fairy Tales! The great Kate Burton reads “Beauty and the Beast or The Enormous Wound,” Brazilian feminist writer Clarice Lispector's tale of a wealthy woman’s moment of truth. Find the full episode here: https://bit.ly/2Ty4H6V, or wherever you get your podcasts!
Fables and foibles abound on Selected Shorts: Fractured Fairy Tales! Jane Kaczmarek hosts, and performs Jeanne Desy’s “The Princess Who Stood On Her Own Two Feet,” a tale about an unconventional royal. Listen to the full episode here: https://bit.ly/2Ty4H6V, or wherever you get your podcasts!
For this week’s Sunday Stories, we are honoring the late, great Jerry Stiller. Stiller was an early supporter of Symphony Space and a frequent reader at Selected Shorts, and we're fortunate to be able to share his laugh-out-loud reading of John Sayles’ short story “At the Anarchists’ Convention.” Listen here: https://bit.ly/2WFmtao
Michael Cerveris reads “Riding the Doghouse,” Randy DeVita's great coming-of-age story about a young boy and his trucker dad, on Selected Shorts: What Strangers See. Find the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://bit.ly/3crwnBC
The superb Kathleen Chalfant brings to life Carol Shields’ “Mrs. Turner Cutting the Grass” on Selected Shorts: What Strangers See. Find the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or listen here: https://bit.ly/3crwnBC
Looking for a laugh on this chilly Saturday? Andy Borowitz hosts an episode of Selected Shorts full of funny fictions that'll warm you right up! Here's a sneak peak of the great Kirsten Vangsness reading “The Pony Problem” by Sloane Crosley. Listen to the full episode here: https://bit.ly/2YNYved
Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for joining along today in this digital celebration of our “oasis on 95th Street.” Symphony Space is a creative home to so many incredible artists, audiences, students, and educators, and we are so grateful to you for helping us to sustain that home for years to come. If you haven’t donated yet, know that every gift, big or small, makes a difference this #GivingTuesday. And if you missed any of today’s content, find it all on symphonyspace.org!
“It greatly, greatly, impacted who I am as a person and an artist, and I can't imagine New York City without Symphony Space and Selected Shorts.” Us either. Emily grew up with Symphony Space as her local destination for art and culture, and as her own creative career was established, she joined our artistic family as a performer and friend, and we couldn’t imagine Symphony Space or Selected Shorts without her. This #GivingTuesday, help #SustainSymphonySpace for people like Emily. Every gift, big or small, makes a difference: https://bit.ly/2KVox7j
Symphony Space wouldn’t be the same without Kirsten Vangsness. She’s done everything from touring with Selected Shorts to reading for Bloomsday to recording for our podcasts, and we’re so thrilled that we get to “sit in the same beautiful soup” with her here at Shorts. #SustainSymphonySpace to keep the roof of imagination over our bathtub-shaped house! Donate today-- every gift, big or small, makes a difference: https://bit.ly/2KVox7j #GivingTuesday
Comedian and satirist Andy Borowitz comes to the Upper West Side to “keep in touch with what America is thinking.” Lucky for him, the America that’s on 95th & Broadway thinks he’s hilarious. This #GivingTuesday, help us #SustainSymphonySpace so Upper West Siders can continue to say what’s on their minds. Every gift, big or small, makes a difference: https://bit.ly/2KVox7j
For Selected Shorts reader Michael Tucker, Symphony Space is a place “where the creative community and its audience can mingle and feel comfortable together.” #SustainSymphonySpace now, so we can gather comfortably as a community later. Every gift, big or small, makes a difference: https://bit.ly/2KVox7j #GivingTuesday
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