Marilynne Robinson on the Bible

Plus Daniel Mendelsohn on Twentieth Century Theater ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Marilynne Robinson on The Bible The New York Review is pleased to announce two new seminars on the Bible, hosted by contributor and Pulitzer Prize–winning author, Marilynne Robinson. Her first series on the Old Testament begins on March 2, and her second series on the New Testament starts on May 6.  The course as a whole is intended to draw attention to the fact that the Scriptures are, whatever else, a very great literature. Considering their importance to Western Civilization, it is remarkable how vulnerable they are now to misuse and ridicule.  Over centuries writers returned to these texts, confident of finding a high order of meaning in them, as great writers have done for centuries after the canon was closed. This is far too extraordinary a phenomenon to be left to cynical use or to neglect. —Marilynne Robinson     Marilynne Robinson on The Old Testament Four weekly sessions, starting March 2, 2026 Each week will focus on a theme or book from the Old Testament: Creation, Law, Psalms, and Prophecy. Four one-hour sessions: March 2, 9, 16, and 23. All sessions will start at 7 PM EST.  Register for The Old Testament     Marilynne Robinson on The New Testament Four weekly sessions, starting May 6, 2026 Each week will focus on a book from the New Testament: Luke, Acts, First Corinthians, and John. Four one-hour sessions: May 6, 13, 20, and 27. All sessions will start at 7 PM EST.  Register for The New Testament       Also Still Available Daniel Mendelsohn finishes his “Drama Queens” seminars with a four-part series on twentieth-century theater, starting on January 28.   “Drama Queens” Daniel Mendelsohn on Twentieth-Century Theater Four weekly sessions, starting January 28, 2026 The final installment of our “Drama Queens” seminar will examine four masterpieces of American theater, each of which showcases one or more unforgettable heroines: the recovering morphine addict Mary Tyrone in Eugene O’Neill’s A Long Day’s Journey into Night; the faded Southern belle Amanda Wingfield in Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie; the delusional yet noble Blanche DuBois of Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire; and the harrowingly damaged protagonist of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? These plays suggests that well into the 20th century, the archetypes established by the Greeks continued to be useful for male playwrights; the question that confronts us, as we end our series, is why? Four one-hour sessions: January 28, February 4, 11, and 18. All sessions will start at 7 PM EST.  Register for Theater   Politics   Literature   Arts   Ideas You are receiving this message because you signed up for e-mail newsletters from The New York Review. Update your preferences View in browser The New York Review of Books 207 East 32nd Street, New York, NY 10016-6305   Preferences  |  Unsubscribe