The Hudson Review
@hudsonreview.bsky.social
Quarterly magazine of literature and the arts, founded in 1948. Poetry, fiction, essays, and more.
Marina Harss reviews Alexei Ratmansky's Solitude, New York City Ballet:
1/3
Solitude is almost shocking in its unflinching depiction of the fragmentation of consciousness produced by loss…we see an embodiment of mourning: a man teetering on the edge of the void, aching to join the dead.
1/3
Solitude is almost shocking in its unflinching depiction of the fragmentation of consciousness produced by loss…we see an embodiment of mourning: a man teetering on the edge of the void, aching to join the dead.
December 9, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Marina Harss reviews Alexei Ratmansky's Solitude, New York City Ballet:
1/3
Solitude is almost shocking in its unflinching depiction of the fragmentation of consciousness produced by loss…we see an embodiment of mourning: a man teetering on the edge of the void, aching to join the dead.
1/3
Solitude is almost shocking in its unflinching depiction of the fragmentation of consciousness produced by loss…we see an embodiment of mourning: a man teetering on the edge of the void, aching to join the dead.
Susan Balée reviews Katabasis by R. F. Kuang from Harper Voyager:
1/2
Katabasis felt to me like just a parody of academic life by someone deeply ambivalent about graduate school...the prose flowed and academia can indeed be a fascinating hellscape, but it’s not a book I’ll revisit.
1/2
Katabasis felt to me like just a parody of academic life by someone deeply ambivalent about graduate school...the prose flowed and academia can indeed be a fascinating hellscape, but it’s not a book I’ll revisit.
December 8, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Susan Balée reviews Katabasis by R. F. Kuang from Harper Voyager:
1/2
Katabasis felt to me like just a parody of academic life by someone deeply ambivalent about graduate school...the prose flowed and academia can indeed be a fascinating hellscape, but it’s not a book I’ll revisit.
1/2
Katabasis felt to me like just a parody of academic life by someone deeply ambivalent about graduate school...the prose flowed and academia can indeed be a fascinating hellscape, but it’s not a book I’ll revisit.
Ozon expertly contrasts the soft beauty of the characters’ surroundings with the harsh reality of their inner lives, creating an aura of menace no matter how banal the on-screen activities might be....An old-fashioned, well-made drama.
—Brooke Allen reviews When Fall Is Coming, dir. François Ozon
—Brooke Allen reviews When Fall Is Coming, dir. François Ozon
December 5, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Ozon expertly contrasts the soft beauty of the characters’ surroundings with the harsh reality of their inner lives, creating an aura of menace no matter how banal the on-screen activities might be....An old-fashioned, well-made drama.
—Brooke Allen reviews When Fall Is Coming, dir. François Ozon
—Brooke Allen reviews When Fall Is Coming, dir. François Ozon
Erick Neher on Hudson Valley Shakespeare’s performance of “The Matchmaker” by Thornton Wilder:
1/4
The play’s afterlife proved richer still as it became the foundation for Jerry Herman’s 1964 musical Hello, Dolly!, a cultural juggernaut that eclipsed Wilder’s original.
1/4
The play’s afterlife proved richer still as it became the foundation for Jerry Herman’s 1964 musical Hello, Dolly!, a cultural juggernaut that eclipsed Wilder’s original.
December 1, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Erick Neher on Hudson Valley Shakespeare’s performance of “The Matchmaker” by Thornton Wilder:
1/4
The play’s afterlife proved richer still as it became the foundation for Jerry Herman’s 1964 musical Hello, Dolly!, a cultural juggernaut that eclipsed Wilder’s original.
1/4
The play’s afterlife proved richer still as it became the foundation for Jerry Herman’s 1964 musical Hello, Dolly!, a cultural juggernaut that eclipsed Wilder’s original.
Bruce Whiteman reviews Daniel Mendelsohn's translation of the Odyssey @uchicagopress.bsky.social :
1/6
In Book XXIII, Odysseus convinces Penelope that he is indeed her long-lost husband by describing their marriage bed in close detail. She breaks down in tears....
1/6
In Book XXIII, Odysseus convinces Penelope that he is indeed her long-lost husband by describing their marriage bed in close detail. She breaks down in tears....
November 26, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Bruce Whiteman reviews Daniel Mendelsohn's translation of the Odyssey @uchicagopress.bsky.social :
1/6
In Book XXIII, Odysseus convinces Penelope that he is indeed her long-lost husband by describing their marriage bed in close detail. She breaks down in tears....
1/6
In Book XXIII, Odysseus convinces Penelope that he is indeed her long-lost husband by describing their marriage bed in close detail. She breaks down in tears....
“Subjunctive Mood” by Maria Terrone:
1/2
If only I could have lived a different life,
I would have dwelled within another skin,
where I would be not me now, but me then
(the impossible not time and place), happy
in my condition contrary to fact. Were that
possible, I would not be held captive
1/2
If only I could have lived a different life,
I would have dwelled within another skin,
where I would be not me now, but me then
(the impossible not time and place), happy
in my condition contrary to fact. Were that
possible, I would not be held captive
November 25, 2025 at 3:30 PM
“Subjunctive Mood” by Maria Terrone:
1/2
If only I could have lived a different life,
I would have dwelled within another skin,
where I would be not me now, but me then
(the impossible not time and place), happy
in my condition contrary to fact. Were that
possible, I would not be held captive
1/2
If only I could have lived a different life,
I would have dwelled within another skin,
where I would be not me now, but me then
(the impossible not time and place), happy
in my condition contrary to fact. Were that
possible, I would not be held captive
1/3
There’s one week left to submit to our short story contest! Submit a story of up to 10,000 words online at hudsonreview.com/submissions by 11:59 p.m. EST on November 30, 2025. 1st prize: $1,000 + publication; 2nd & 3rd: $500 + publication. As always there is NO FEE to submit.
There’s one week left to submit to our short story contest! Submit a story of up to 10,000 words online at hudsonreview.com/submissions by 11:59 p.m. EST on November 30, 2025. 1st prize: $1,000 + publication; 2nd & 3rd: $500 + publication. As always there is NO FEE to submit.
November 24, 2025 at 3:37 PM
1/3
There’s one week left to submit to our short story contest! Submit a story of up to 10,000 words online at hudsonreview.com/submissions by 11:59 p.m. EST on November 30, 2025. 1st prize: $1,000 + publication; 2nd & 3rd: $500 + publication. As always there is NO FEE to submit.
There’s one week left to submit to our short story contest! Submit a story of up to 10,000 words online at hudsonreview.com/submissions by 11:59 p.m. EST on November 30, 2025. 1st prize: $1,000 + publication; 2nd & 3rd: $500 + publication. As always there is NO FEE to submit.
Park marries irreverence to originality, and I found myself laughing out loud….More word-loving, mind-altering stories follow the first.
—Susan Balée reviews An Oral History of Atlantis by Ed Park from Random House. hudsonreview.com/2025/10/the-...
—Susan Balée reviews An Oral History of Atlantis by Ed Park from Random House. hudsonreview.com/2025/10/the-...
November 21, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Park marries irreverence to originality, and I found myself laughing out loud….More word-loving, mind-altering stories follow the first.
—Susan Balée reviews An Oral History of Atlantis by Ed Park from Random House. hudsonreview.com/2025/10/the-...
—Susan Balée reviews An Oral History of Atlantis by Ed Park from Random House. hudsonreview.com/2025/10/the-...
Marina Harss reviews Justin Peck’s Mystic Familiar, New York City Ballet:
1/3
Is Peck entering a Minimalist phase? At the moment, his ballets have a claustrophobically self-referential feel, as if he were intent on returning again and again to the same questions:
1/3
Is Peck entering a Minimalist phase? At the moment, his ballets have a claustrophobically self-referential feel, as if he were intent on returning again and again to the same questions:
November 20, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Marina Harss reviews Justin Peck’s Mystic Familiar, New York City Ballet:
1/3
Is Peck entering a Minimalist phase? At the moment, his ballets have a claustrophobically self-referential feel, as if he were intent on returning again and again to the same questions:
1/3
Is Peck entering a Minimalist phase? At the moment, his ballets have a claustrophobically self-referential feel, as if he were intent on returning again and again to the same questions:
David Mason reviews Storyteller: The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson by Leo Damrosch @yalepress.bsky.social :
1/3
Damrosch is the kind of scholar who knows a character when he sees one....Stevenson proves a perfect subject for him—eccentric, vital, adventurous, and, with good reason, beloved.
1/3
Damrosch is the kind of scholar who knows a character when he sees one....Stevenson proves a perfect subject for him—eccentric, vital, adventurous, and, with good reason, beloved.
November 19, 2025 at 3:25 PM
David Mason reviews Storyteller: The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson by Leo Damrosch @yalepress.bsky.social :
1/3
Damrosch is the kind of scholar who knows a character when he sees one....Stevenson proves a perfect subject for him—eccentric, vital, adventurous, and, with good reason, beloved.
1/3
Damrosch is the kind of scholar who knows a character when he sees one....Stevenson proves a perfect subject for him—eccentric, vital, adventurous, and, with good reason, beloved.
In flight, I felt him on the other side
Of his just-published letters, many penned
In Glanmore’s “vale,” his “bastion,” “silence bunker,”
“A scribe’s stone cell” tucked close to Glendalough,
Where slates still drip like ink on alder leaves.
—From “The Other Side” by David Livewell, on Seamus Heaney
Of his just-published letters, many penned
In Glanmore’s “vale,” his “bastion,” “silence bunker,”
“A scribe’s stone cell” tucked close to Glendalough,
Where slates still drip like ink on alder leaves.
—From “The Other Side” by David Livewell, on Seamus Heaney
November 18, 2025 at 5:27 PM
In flight, I felt him on the other side
Of his just-published letters, many penned
In Glanmore’s “vale,” his “bastion,” “silence bunker,”
“A scribe’s stone cell” tucked close to Glendalough,
Where slates still drip like ink on alder leaves.
—From “The Other Side” by David Livewell, on Seamus Heaney
Of his just-published letters, many penned
In Glanmore’s “vale,” his “bastion,” “silence bunker,”
“A scribe’s stone cell” tucked close to Glendalough,
Where slates still drip like ink on alder leaves.
—From “The Other Side” by David Livewell, on Seamus Heaney
The photos are so beautiful and expansive that they read momentarily as abstractions; it takes a moment to realize that we are looking at an almost certainly irreversible affront to the natural world.
—Karen Wilkin reviews Edward Burtynsky at the International Center of Photography
—Karen Wilkin reviews Edward Burtynsky at the International Center of Photography
November 17, 2025 at 3:15 PM
The photos are so beautiful and expansive that they read momentarily as abstractions; it takes a moment to realize that we are looking at an almost certainly irreversible affront to the natural world.
—Karen Wilkin reviews Edward Burtynsky at the International Center of Photography
—Karen Wilkin reviews Edward Burtynsky at the International Center of Photography
Mark Jarman reviews Young Woman with a Cane by Reginald Gibbons @lsupress.bsky.social
1/2
His political stake is with younger generations and those yet to be born: “If only we could ask children now for future forgiveness. But it’s not fair to do so. Or even think so.”
1/2
His political stake is with younger generations and those yet to be born: “If only we could ask children now for future forgiveness. But it’s not fair to do so. Or even think so.”
November 13, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Mark Jarman reviews Young Woman with a Cane by Reginald Gibbons @lsupress.bsky.social
1/2
His political stake is with younger generations and those yet to be born: “If only we could ask children now for future forgiveness. But it’s not fair to do so. Or even think so.”
1/2
His political stake is with younger generations and those yet to be born: “If only we could ask children now for future forgiveness. But it’s not fair to do so. Or even think so.”
Cody did not know Wade played the harp. It was not the sort of thing one soldier shared with another...
—From “The Only Real Thing,” a short story by Elizabeth Hamilton hudsonreview.com/2025/10/the-...
—From “The Only Real Thing,” a short story by Elizabeth Hamilton hudsonreview.com/2025/10/the-...
November 12, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Cody did not know Wade played the harp. It was not the sort of thing one soldier shared with another...
—From “The Only Real Thing,” a short story by Elizabeth Hamilton hudsonreview.com/2025/10/the-...
—From “The Only Real Thing,” a short story by Elizabeth Hamilton hudsonreview.com/2025/10/the-...
Brooke Allen reviews Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, dir. Embeth Davidtz:
1/6
Bobo’s world will probably look as strange to a modern-day American audience as it does to her. How to make sense of this weird society and its contradictions?
1/6
Bobo’s world will probably look as strange to a modern-day American audience as it does to her. How to make sense of this weird society and its contradictions?
November 11, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Brooke Allen reviews Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, dir. Embeth Davidtz:
1/6
Bobo’s world will probably look as strange to a modern-day American audience as it does to her. How to make sense of this weird society and its contradictions?
1/6
Bobo’s world will probably look as strange to a modern-day American audience as it does to her. How to make sense of this weird society and its contradictions?
That Leonora should find her love for James unrequited and his loss a deep blow seems particularly ironic because a twenty-five-year-old Leonora would never have been interested in him in the first place.
—Susan Balée reviews The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social
—Susan Balée reviews The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 3:04 PM
That Leonora should find her love for James unrequited and his loss a deep blow seems particularly ironic because a twenty-five-year-old Leonora would never have been interested in him in the first place.
—Susan Balée reviews The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social
—Susan Balée reviews The Sweet Dove Died by Barbara Pym @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social
Erick Neher reviews Twelfth Night and the reopening of the Delacorte Theater:
1/4
To see Shakespeare in the Park is not simply to watch a play; it is to participate in an urban rite of endurance and reward and to belong, however briefly, to a commons that cuts across class and borough lines.
1/4
To see Shakespeare in the Park is not simply to watch a play; it is to participate in an urban rite of endurance and reward and to belong, however briefly, to a commons that cuts across class and borough lines.
November 6, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Erick Neher reviews Twelfth Night and the reopening of the Delacorte Theater:
1/4
To see Shakespeare in the Park is not simply to watch a play; it is to participate in an urban rite of endurance and reward and to belong, however briefly, to a commons that cuts across class and borough lines.
1/4
To see Shakespeare in the Park is not simply to watch a play; it is to participate in an urban rite of endurance and reward and to belong, however briefly, to a commons that cuts across class and borough lines.
When the red-tailed hawk
swoops low,
its eye a whirlpool
of greed,
should I bet all of me
on the limping squirrel?
—From “Poem Ending with Four Lines by Seneca” by Maria Terrone hudsonreview.com/2025/10/poem...
swoops low,
its eye a whirlpool
of greed,
should I bet all of me
on the limping squirrel?
—From “Poem Ending with Four Lines by Seneca” by Maria Terrone hudsonreview.com/2025/10/poem...
November 5, 2025 at 3:29 PM
When the red-tailed hawk
swoops low,
its eye a whirlpool
of greed,
should I bet all of me
on the limping squirrel?
—From “Poem Ending with Four Lines by Seneca” by Maria Terrone hudsonreview.com/2025/10/poem...
swoops low,
its eye a whirlpool
of greed,
should I bet all of me
on the limping squirrel?
—From “Poem Ending with Four Lines by Seneca” by Maria Terrone hudsonreview.com/2025/10/poem...
Alexandra Mullen reviews Dickens the Enchanter by Peter Conrad @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social:
1/3
Dickens the Enchanter has no pretensions to scholarship….And I can’t find fault with [Conrad’s] argument, because this book doesn’t have one beyond the claim that Dickens is terrific.
1/3
Dickens the Enchanter has no pretensions to scholarship….And I can’t find fault with [Conrad’s] argument, because this book doesn’t have one beyond the claim that Dickens is terrific.
November 4, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Alexandra Mullen reviews Dickens the Enchanter by Peter Conrad @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social:
1/3
Dickens the Enchanter has no pretensions to scholarship….And I can’t find fault with [Conrad’s] argument, because this book doesn’t have one beyond the claim that Dickens is terrific.
1/3
Dickens the Enchanter has no pretensions to scholarship….And I can’t find fault with [Conrad’s] argument, because this book doesn’t have one beyond the claim that Dickens is terrific.
There was an old-world grandeur in the way the steps were presented for the audience’s enjoyment, and yet, the ballet felt fresh, generous, big-hearted.…At moments like this, ballet seems as alive as ever.
—Marina Harss reviews Alexei Ratmansky’s Paquita, New York City Ballet
—Marina Harss reviews Alexei Ratmansky’s Paquita, New York City Ballet
November 3, 2025 at 3:34 PM
There was an old-world grandeur in the way the steps were presented for the audience’s enjoyment, and yet, the ballet felt fresh, generous, big-hearted.…At moments like this, ballet seems as alive as ever.
—Marina Harss reviews Alexei Ratmansky’s Paquita, New York City Ballet
—Marina Harss reviews Alexei Ratmansky’s Paquita, New York City Ballet
Winterbottom...has been able to make an emotionally subtle and understated film…Shoshana takes its audience dramatically into a place and time that continue to mold world historical events.
—Brooke Allen reviews Shoshana, dir. by Michael Winterbottom
—Brooke Allen reviews Shoshana, dir. by Michael Winterbottom
October 30, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Winterbottom...has been able to make an emotionally subtle and understated film…Shoshana takes its audience dramatically into a place and time that continue to mold world historical events.
—Brooke Allen reviews Shoshana, dir. by Michael Winterbottom
—Brooke Allen reviews Shoshana, dir. by Michael Winterbottom
From Judson Mitcham's satirical poem "Corrections":
1/3
Come on, who could be sorrier than we are? In our
profile, “Unarmed Youth Planned to Be Doctor,”
a bizarre auto-correct kicked in, so the word dead
1/3
Come on, who could be sorrier than we are? In our
profile, “Unarmed Youth Planned to Be Doctor,”
a bizarre auto-correct kicked in, so the word dead
October 29, 2025 at 3:07 PM
From Judson Mitcham's satirical poem "Corrections":
1/3
Come on, who could be sorrier than we are? In our
profile, “Unarmed Youth Planned to Be Doctor,”
a bizarre auto-correct kicked in, so the word dead
1/3
Come on, who could be sorrier than we are? In our
profile, “Unarmed Youth Planned to Be Doctor,”
a bizarre auto-correct kicked in, so the word dead
One great thing about writing a fiction chronicle and getting all the books of a season is that you’re bound to discover a great writer you’ve never read before. Last summer, for me, that writer was Emily Itami.
—Susan Balée on Kakigori Summer by Emily Itami @marinerbooks.bsky.social
—Susan Balée on Kakigori Summer by Emily Itami @marinerbooks.bsky.social
October 28, 2025 at 8:21 PM
One great thing about writing a fiction chronicle and getting all the books of a season is that you’re bound to discover a great writer you’ve never read before. Last summer, for me, that writer was Emily Itami.
—Susan Balée on Kakigori Summer by Emily Itami @marinerbooks.bsky.social
—Susan Balée on Kakigori Summer by Emily Itami @marinerbooks.bsky.social
The old cliché of never being at a loss for words is evident on every page of these letters, and they match perfectly with the behavior of Updike the novelist.
—William H. Pritchard reviews the Selected Letters of John Updike, ed. James Schiff @aaknopf.bsky.social hudsonreview.com/2025/10/john...
—William H. Pritchard reviews the Selected Letters of John Updike, ed. James Schiff @aaknopf.bsky.social hudsonreview.com/2025/10/john...
October 27, 2025 at 2:27 PM
The old cliché of never being at a loss for words is evident on every page of these letters, and they match perfectly with the behavior of Updike the novelist.
—William H. Pritchard reviews the Selected Letters of John Updike, ed. James Schiff @aaknopf.bsky.social hudsonreview.com/2025/10/john...
—William H. Pritchard reviews the Selected Letters of John Updike, ed. James Schiff @aaknopf.bsky.social hudsonreview.com/2025/10/john...
Karen Wilkin on “Ben Shahn: On Nonconformity” at the Jewish Museum:
1/3
Shahn was a brilliant illustrator, able to distill the essential elements of narratives into simplified, sensitively composed images. Witness Liberation (1945), a meditation on Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War,
1/3
Shahn was a brilliant illustrator, able to distill the essential elements of narratives into simplified, sensitively composed images. Witness Liberation (1945), a meditation on Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War,
October 24, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Karen Wilkin on “Ben Shahn: On Nonconformity” at the Jewish Museum:
1/3
Shahn was a brilliant illustrator, able to distill the essential elements of narratives into simplified, sensitively composed images. Witness Liberation (1945), a meditation on Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War,
1/3
Shahn was a brilliant illustrator, able to distill the essential elements of narratives into simplified, sensitively composed images. Witness Liberation (1945), a meditation on Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War,