I’m a journalist based in Paris.

I’m also the founder and editor-in-chief of The Dial, a new, award-winning magazine of international writing. We find, edit and mentor the best writers you’ve never heard of, everywhere from Argentina to Ukraine.

My work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The London Review of Books, The Guardian, and The New York Review of Books, where I worked as an editor for several years. My reporting has been featured on NPR and France 24, and I’m a regular commentator on the BBC. I am also an advisory editor at The Paris Review.

In general, my work tries to unravel complex issues and debate. In 2019, my article “The End of Atlanticism: has Trump killed the ideology that won the cold war?” won the European Press Prize. My article “Criminalizing a Constitutional Right” about the attacks on women’s health in the United States won a 2022 Front Page Award. My reporting on France’s antiterrorism laws was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. My interactive feature on Notre Dame sounds—created with the New York Times graphics team—won the SPJ prize for Immersive Journalism and was a finalist for the 2023 Excellence in Immersive and Emerging Technology Storytelling award. My essay on language loss won the 2025 Linguistics Journalism Award. Here is an interview with me about some of my reporting.

I teach at Sciences Po and regularly speak at schools and universities. My work has been taught at Harvard Law School and cited in an amicus brief to the Supreme Court; it has been translated into Polish, French, and Portuguese. I’ve been a Robert Bosch Fellow, Atlantik-Brücke Young Leader, Milena Jesenská Fellow at the Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen in Vienna, and a member of the Women’s Leadership Accelerator of the Online News Association. In 2019-2020, I was a board member of the National Book Critics Circle, working with leaders across independent media to create a better insurance plan for freelancers.

I speak English, French, German, and Spanish. Before becoming a journalist, I studied Classics (Ancient Greek and Latin) at Harvard and at Oxford, where I was a Henry Fellow. My focus was understanding how people read in the time of ancient papyrus—something I’ll talk about with anyone who’ll listen!

 
Black and white headshot of Madeleine Schwartz

I founded The Dial in 2022 to bring voices from around the world into English.

Since then, we’ve published writers in over 85 countries. Work in The Dial has been recognized by the One World Media Award, European Press Prize, O Henry Award, among other accolades (not bad for a publication with two full-time employees). It has been republished in The Guardian, The New York Review of Books and Foreign Policy.

In addition to original reporting, we partner with publications around the world whose work we translate into English for the first time.

Jewish Currents called us “an exciting new outlet” with “new ways of thinking,” Lawfare editors praised our work as “fresh,” and the Times Literary Supplement said The Dial is “a necessary addition to existing news outlets.” Our first book, How We See It: The World Looks at America in the Age of Trump was published in June 2026. 

I’m always interested in new experiments to bring the world to anglophone readers and connect writers with each other. An earlier popup, The Ballot, ran from 2020-2021 and published work on elections and politics from over 50 countries using local reporters.

 
Dial logo mark
 
  • A collage with a black-and-white historic photo in the background showing a group of people, including children, some wearing helmets and carrying rifles, and a color photo in the foreground with two young adults, a man with glasses and a woman with glasses, both facing the camera. The man has short hair, and the woman has long hair and is wearing a floral jacket. The two images are layered, creating a composite portrait.

    ‘I felt betrayed, naked’: did a prize-winning novelist steal a woman’s life story?

    The Guardian, 2026

  • Children dressed as characters from fairy tales standing around a giant fairy tale character, Little Red Riding Hood, carrying a basket and a wolf dressed as the big bad wolf, holding a small girl dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, who is holding a bow and arrow.

    The French War over "Gentle Parenting"

    The New York Times, 2026

    Click Here
  • Ancient artifacts displayed in a museum case, including a small sculpture of a woman, a bird skull, and a clay figurine of an animal.

    Pieces of Gaza

    The New York Review of Books, 2026

  • The image displays the words 'Hello' and 'Bonjour' in large white text on a black background.

    Can you lose your native language?

    The New York Times, 2024

  • Collage of vintage and surreal images including rats with human features, people with clown makeup, and various faces and objects, creating a whimsical and eclectic scene.

    Rats! in Paris

    The New York Review of Books, 2023

  • Line drawing of iconic landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower, Louvre Pyramid, and Notre-Dame Cathedral, partially submerged in water.

    Can Anyone Stop Paris from Drowning?

    The Dial, 2023

  • Gothic-style cathedral interior with high vaulted ceilings, tall arched windows, ornate columns, chandeliers, and an altar at the front with statues and a cross.

    The Quest to Restore Notre Dame’s Glorious Sound

    The New York Times, 2023

  • Cover of London Review of Books with colorful circular geometric pattern

    Teaching in the Banlieue

    The London Review of Books, 2022

  • View of a gated area with ornate black and gold iron gates, a crowd of people, a large American flag with a red, white, and blue design, trees, and buildings in the background.

    You got up and you died: After the Bataclan

    The London Review of Books, 2022

  • A stylized illustration of a man in a suit with a blue background, featuring red and white accent lines and brush strokes.

    Macron on the Precipice

    The New York Review of Books, 2022

  • A woman in a black blazer riding a blue bicycle, smiling, with an ornate historic building in the background.

    Bike Lane to the Elysée

    The New York Review of Books, 2022

  • A stone plaque on the exterior of a building in Paris, France, displaying the French national motto and references to the city and its administrative district.

    By Your Name: On France’s Outdated Laws

    The Paris Review, 2021

  • Dead Sea Scroll

    How to Forge a Dead Sea Scroll

    Harper’s, 2021

    Click Here
  • People walking past a health services building while holding colorful umbrellas, with some wearing orange safety vests.

    Criminalizing a Constitutional Right

    The New York Review of Books, 2020

  • Empty hallway in a government or courthouse building with marble walls, a clock on the wall, elevator doors, wooden benches, and ceiling lights.

    Inside the Deportation Courts

    The New York Review of Books, 2019

  • Two people, a woman in a green jacket and a man in a suit, stand by a body of water, engaged in conversation.

    The End of Atlanticism

    The Guardian, 2019

    Click Here
  • A digital collage divided into two parts featuring nature scenes with birds and flowers. The left side shows a stream with a heron standing among white and orange flowers, with a small bird flying above. The right side depicts dense foliage with a blue heron standing on flowers near a tree trunk, also amidst colorful blooms.

    Jane Does: An Oral History of the Jane Collective

    Harper's, 2017

  • A soldier kneeling in front of a brick wall, holding a rifle, with a person in a black uniform seated nearby.

    El Salvador: A Town Without Violence?

    The New York Review of Books, 2017

Selected Criticisms & Essays

  • A black-and-white photograph of several people working on a construction or excavation site on a barren, flat landscape with distant hills.

    Paper Trail: On Stolen Papyri

    The New York Review of Books, 2026

    Click Here
  • A black and white portrait of an Asian woman with straight, shoulder-length hair and bangs, looking directly at the camera against a black background.

    A Necessary Detachment: On Xiaolu Guo

    The New York Review of Books, 2021

  • Illustration of a woman with blue eyes and curly hair, wearing a blue checkered shirt and a black vest, with multiple overlapping images of her in different poses and styles.

    Sybille Bedford and the Unruly Art of the Origin Story

    The New Yorker, 2021

  • A stylized digital portrait of a woman with long wavy hair, pink in color, set against a blue background.

    Living Memory: On Annie Ernaux

    The New Yorker, 2020

  • Vintage black and white illustration of anthropomorphic mushrooms and vegetable characters with faces, including a large mushroom at the top with a face, and smaller mushrooms and leafy vegetables with faces around a basket.

    The Devourer: On Marie NDiaye

    The New York Review of Books, 2020

  • Black and white illustration of two figures kissing, with one figure with long hair and the other with shorter hair, in a simple artistic style.

    How Should a Millennial Be? On Sally Rooney

    The New York Review of Books, 2019

  • Cover of London Review of Books magazine with blue background and title text.

    About to Pop: On Kathleen Collins

    The London Review of Books, 2019

  • Black and white portrait of a woman with short hair, resting her chin on her folded arms, looking directly at the camera.

    The View from the Attic: On Jean Rhys

    The New York Review of Books, 2018

I am a regular commentator on the BBC and France 24, as well as numerous podcasts. I have also given talks at universities, including Yale, Columbia and Boston University. 

I teach writing at Sciences Po.