2016-10-03
37 分钟Karen Russell joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss Mavis Gallant’s “From the Fifteenth District,” from a 1978 issue of the magazine.
This is the New Yorker fiction podcast from the New Yorker magazine.
I'm Deborah Treisman, fiction editor at the New Yorker.
Each month we invite a writer to choose a story from the magazine's archives to read and discuss.
This month we're going to hear from the 15th district by Mavis Galant, which was published in the New Yorker in October of 1978.
Every year, on the Sunday falling nearest the anniversary of his death, Major Trevela attends Holy Communion service at St.
Michael's, the church from which he was buried.
He stands at the back, close to the doors, waiting until all the communicants have returned to their places before he approaches the altar rail.
His intention is to avoid a mixed queue of dead and living, the thought of which is disgusting to him.
The story was chosen by Karen Russell, who's the author of two story collections and the novel Swamplandia.
She's been publishing fiction in the New Yorker since 2005.
Hi, Karen.
Hi, Debra.
So Mavis Gallant published more than 100 stories in the new Yorker, and I know you went through and reread quite a few of them.
What made you choose this one to read today?
You know, this story has been really special to me.
I've sort of passed it on to friends and students, and I love her work.
And I was going to say this feels a, a little bit of an outlier.
It sort of treats supernaturally a very human predicament.
But maybe it's not.
As you mentioned, she's probably one of the most prolific story writers of all time.