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September 2009

Unlikely Situations

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Once upon a time, New York City had a Sixth Borough. You won’t read about it in any of the history books, because there’s nothing - save for the circumstantial evidence in Central Park - to prove that it was there at all…—Jonathan Safran Foer, “The Sixth Borough.”
From an eccentric governess to a May/December romance, strange situations come to life in this quartet of stories.


The Rea Award for the Short Story: A Tribute Part 2

Sunday, September 20, 2009

“A short story has always been somewhat between a longer fiction novel and a poem…it has that delicacy which a poem can have of not a word being out of place…a novel has to have those heavy elephant legs to somehow carry you through the 300 pages. Whereas a short story can jut flit into your consciousness and be gone.”—John Updike, speaking at a tribute to the Rea Award for the Short Story.
The second of two special programs celebrating a sustaining gift to the literary community.


The Rea Award for the Short Story: A Tribute

Sunday, September 13, 2009


A special program celebrates a sustaining gift to the literary community.

In 1987 the late Michael Rea and his wife Elizabeth established The Rea Award for the Short Story, to “foster a literary cause, to ennoble the form, and to give it prestige.” Given not for a single work but for contributions to the art of the short story, the Award honors one writer each year. In April 2007, a dazzling line up of past winners—including Cynthia Ozick, Joyce Carol Oates, Richard Ford, Grace Paley and 2006 winner John Updike—joined guest host Ann Beattie and SELECTED SHORTS host Isaiah Sheffer at Symphony Space to celebrate the Award’s 20th anniversary. The resulting evening-long performance, generous and exciting enough for two special radio broadcasts, of which this is the first, included not only works by the writers, but their heartfelt tribute to the Rea Award and its founders. “How often,” says host Beattie, referring to the rigorous peer jury process, “does anyone sit and talk for hours about excellent writing?”


People with Problems

Sunday, September 06, 2009



“‘Find the chef,’ the groom called. ‘To the kitchen!’, the bride said. ‘To the kitchen!’ the crowd chanted. Like a horde they rose to their feet and surged towards the Amerigos, wearing dangerous smiles.”—David Schickler, “Wes Amerigo’s Giant Fear.”
A gifted child transforms a community with her cooking, and a neurotic meets his match.