Fiction & Poetry

A view of the night sky, looking up at a tower in a rainforest. Snow is falling.
Fiction

“Snowy Day”

“The only things he can see now are snow and barbed wire. There’s nothing left in the world but barbed wire.”

This image may contain Tool, and Brush

Lee Chang-dong on his story in this week’s issue of the magazine. Read more >>>

The Writer’s Voice

Allegra Goodman Reads “The Last Grownup”

Illustrated portrait of Allegra Goodman.

The author reads her story from the February 27, 2023, issue of the magazine.

More Podcasts
Poetry

“Put My House”

A man sitting on a couch inside the pages of a book.

“Put my house / inside the / boat.”

“A Graveyard in New England”

A woman with a journal observing a squirrel on a branch.

“Only recently has it been revealed / it’s not just in our beds lovers must bundle.”

“Duet”

Polar bear reading a book

“I wanted to write a poem about delay / The white space between word and music.”

“Zelda Fitzgerald”

A woman with a quill pen

“It’s true I hate the stories about the other women, / but I love the description of their daily lives.”

The Poetry Podcast

Sandra Cisneros Reads José Antonio Rodríguez

Sandra Cisneros

The poet joins Kevin Young to read and discuss “Shelter,” by José Antonio Rodríguez, and her own poem “Tea Dance, Provincetown, 1982.” 

More Podcasts
Flash Fiction

“The Façade Renovation That’s Going Well”

Illustration of a figure looking out the window of a building covered in scaffolding.

“The third virtual meeting was cancelled, and, a day later, scaffolding went up.”

“Live a Little”

Illustration of a woman in a chair with a man, standing in the doorway, looking at her.

“Her husband has to frown because he notices his wife frown and because all the members of his family, it seems to him, are acting sad or are actually sad.”

“A Triangle”

Illustration of a couple standing with a burned chair outside a medical building as a third person watches

“I knew the couple must have liked each other. They stared like children and kissed on the corners of their lips, and I knew.”

“Gravity”

A silhouette of a woman made from coffee spills on the floor.

“She wanted to feel sorry for the neighbor and say how horrible it was and how she must have really been suffering, but all that came out was anger.”

The Fiction Podcast

Clare Sestanovich Reads Alice Munro

A photograph of the writer Clare Sestanovich wearing a dark shirt.

The author joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss the story “The Moons of Jupiter,” which was published in a 1978 issue of the magazine.

More Podcasts
Novellas

“Muscle”

Three men sitting around lounging on a farm with a hookah and guns.

“It’s time to turn up the heat a little bit more. My boys are getting bored, and that’s not good for their appetite or their temper.”

“What’s the Time, Mr. Wolf?”

A boy floating in a pond with sunlight shimmering around him.

“He got out of the car, closing his door quietly, and crept through the woods toward the brick house.”

“Many a Little Makes”

A suburban home seen through binoculars.

“Why was Bree the bad apple? The one needing to be banished? How could a girl of fourteen be the one held responsible?”

“Mother Nut”

Image may contain: Animal, Reptile, Lizard, Sea Life, Outdoors, Nature, Ocean, Reef, Water, and Sea

“I told her about how there were these special trees in secret places, and no one knew how they could survive. And I tried not to make a thing out of saying—but did say—‘I’ve seen one, but I can’t tell you where it is.’ ”