About the Paris Review:
Founded in 1953 in Paris by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton, The Paris Review has become a legend among literary people. It's perhaps less well-known than The New Yorker, but more intellectual, and perhaps even more prestigious.
Authors in the Paris Review:
The Paris Review introduced the world to writers like Adrienne Rich, Philip Roth, V. S. Naipaul, Mona Simpson, Edward P. Jones, and Rick Moody. And excerpts from books like The Basketball Diaries, The Virgin Suicides, and The Corrections graced its pages. They publish criticism and are renowned for their interviews, which continue to provide insights into the classic writers -- Dorothy Parker, Katherine Anne Porter, and Ralph Ellison, to name a very few -- who set the standards for contemporary literature.
Submit Work to the Paris Review:
The Paris Review does accept unsolicited submissions, but obviously competition for space on their pages is pretty stiff. Short stories and nonfiction manuscripts should be sent by mail to the Fiction Editor and poetry should be sent to the Poetry Editor (see their masthead for names) at the following address:
The Paris Review
62 White Street
New York, NY 10013
They also host several contests. See their site for details.
Writing Sample from "Claim" by Glen Pourciau:
It was Saturday afternoon, and my wife and I decided to go to the mall to pick up a pair of pants I’d bought there and had altered. We couldn’t find a parking space outside so we drove into one of those high-rise parking garages and wound around in circles until we eventually found a spot. Too many stairs, so we took the elevator down after making note of the floor we were on. We didn’t want to be looking for the car until we reported it stolen, then a week later have the police find the car where we’d parked it.