The Paris Review Publishes McNair


The Paris Review
has just published a gorgeous new essay by longtime Godine author Wesley McNair—whose latest collection is Dwellers in the House of the Lord. The essay, “Donald Hall’s Amanuensis,” illuminates the close, decades-long bond between Hall (below) and his last literary assistant. It begins:

“When Donald Hall interviewed Kendel Currier for the part-time job of typing his correspondence in August of 1994, one of the first things he asked was, “Will you type curse words?” His earlier hire for the position, a woman active in a local church, backed out when she discovered curse words in a letter, and he wanted to make sure Currier wouldn’t quit, too.”

Read the entire essay here.

Photo by Henri Cole, 2014