The Paris Review, Issue 255, Spring 2026

by Emily Stokes (Editor)

Sarah Schulman on the Art of Nonfiction: “I like to have my say, obviously. And if people would have just let me talk, some of these books wouldn’t have had to be written.”

Darryl Pinckney on the Art of Nonfiction: “There are moments when you run up against a white wall—there’s a white man, white man, white man, white man—and the story somehow has to be uncovered.”

Prose by Ingeborg Bachmann, Dan Bevacqua, Patrick Cottrell, Zans Brady Krohn, Tao Lin, David Szalay, and Yu Hua.

Poetry by Inger Christensen, Rachel Lapides, Enrique Lihn, Joyelle McSweeney, Nakahara Chuya, and Asiya Wadud.

Art by Cecily Brown, Tom Fairs, and Cauleen Smith; cover by Cecily Brown.

244 pages, Paperback

First published March 10, 2026

Reviews

[milliebrewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

was really put off by this edition containing three stories about women being sexually exploited by gross men.

thoroughly enjoyed 'the welder' by ingeborg bachmann, 'the art of nonfiction 14' with sarah schulman, and 'gemstone' by tao lin.

[Joni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highlights:

“Gemstone” by Tao Lin
“The Welder” by Ingeborg Bachmann
The Art of Nonfiction No. 14 with Sarah Schulman

[Jacob Elsdon · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I’m reading this book,” he began again. “It argues that in the beginning and in the end, nothing matters. Life and death. I’m reading another book, and it argues that everything matters. I’m reading a book that argues that we have to change the world. And another that argues all sorts of things you can’t even imagine. Good Lord, the things that come out of these books and hover up there like a cloud. And I look up as I’m lying in the dirt fixing the rails for your streetcars and I ask myself, How can we reach each other, this cloud and I?”

[Matthew Olsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed The House with a Mezzanine, Facades, and the poem On Albrecht Durer's Engraving Saint Eustace.

The standout of the issue was The Welder. I'm still thinking about it and thinking through the meaning of the ending.

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Standouts were Lorelei and Athens, GemStone, Art of Nonfiction with Darryl Pinckney.