Legends of Lord Byron

An unlocked story by Emmanuel Carrère.

The Paris Review Redux: free interviews, stories, poems, and art from the archives of The Paris Review. View this email in your browser Thomas Phillips, detail from Portrait of Lord Byron (1813), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain. "Lord Byron's bisexuality is well known—but Byron's archive still has the power to surprise us with new evidence about this part of his private life," Arden Hegele writes in an introduction to the first complete English translations of eight letters written to Byron by his boyfriend Nicolas Giraud. Giraud's letters, which appeared on our website this week, "have not been published in full before, partly because they are difficult to decipher—they are written in misspelled and ungrammatical Italian, English, and an antiquated Greek script—and partly because they trouble Byron's legend as a great lover of women." This week, we're unlocking Emmanuel Carrère's exploration of the Byron legend. Originally published in issue no. 115 of the Review, "Channel Crossings" reimagines the 1816 summer that the author spent with Percy Bysshe and Mary Shelley, during which the latter began composing Frankenstein. PROSE Channel Crossings Emmanuel Carrère, translated by Lanie Goodman   Upon hearing his name, Mary had thought at first of all the rumors linked to Byron, and then of Claire. A few minutes later, after she and Percy had gone back outside—in hopes that the fresh air would restore their composure and return a semblance of order to a world turned upside down by that display of luxury and scandal—she had stammered her misgivings to Percy as they walked along the street, pointing out to him how dangerous the company of such a man could be. Her husband had reacted almost angrily, saying that if the greatest poet of their time was held in contempt, then it was the fault of the times, not the poet, and that Mary would disappoint him greatly by swelling the ranks of the rabble who were always quick to disparage genius. From issue no. 115 (Summer 1990) To read more from issue no. 115, including an interview with Iris Murdoch, why not subscribe? You'll receive four print issues a year plus unlimited digital access to our seventy-two-year archive. Copyright © 2026 The Paris Review. All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: The Paris Review 544 West 27th Street 3rd Floor New York, New York 10001 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe, if you must.