NER Out Loud

Jehanne Dubrow reads from and discusses her essay "Red Monsters," about Anne Carson's Autobiography of Red, bisexuality, and how hybrid literatures can teach us to face the monstrous parts of ourselves. Like the essay, her conversation with podcast hosts Hamilton Smith and Sydney Smith ranges over the topics of literary analysis, personal narrative, theater camp, and mythology. "Red Monsters" appears in in NER 45.3.

Host Charlotte Roberts chats with author and professor Trudy Lewis about Lewis’s short story, "Morado." Set in a fictional seed research institute in Kansas, "Morado" explores what it means to queer both our own bodies and the natural world in order to survive. Featured throughout the episode are three brief excerpts from the story, read by the author. "Morado" was originally published in NER 45.2 (summer 2024).

Hosted by Hamilton Smith and Sydney Smith, episode 27 features Soje reading their translations of Song Seung Eon's "To Dig in the Forest" and "Twisted Landscape Inside a Kind Heart," followed by a brief conversation. Soje's reading of the poems, in both Korean and English, is met with a deep inquiry of translation's potential to effect radical change. Soje's translations appear in NER's Korean Poetry Feature, titled "Where on Earth Did You Come From?—Seven South Korean Poets and Their Translators" of NER 45.2.

A reading from the play "Clara Thomas Bailey," followed by a conversation between Katie Futterman and playwright Caridad Svich. Maya Bargdorf, Rowan Heffelfinger, and Kate Ryan read an excerpt of "Clara Thomas Bailey," a play by Caridad Svich published in NER 44.3. After the reading, podcast host Katie Futterman talks to Svich about how she came to write plays, her approach to audience, and the multiple anxieties that influence this play. "Clara Thomas Bailey" is a portrait-in-motion that takes place over the course of one hour in a person's life—and hour that spans years of feeling. It is a figure in three, or a triptych.

Hosted by Gavin Richards and Cali Jantzen, this episode includes a reading of the story "Wild Animals" by Joan Leegant, followed by a short interview with the author. The conversation explores the volatile nature of family, Leegant's unique syntax, loyalty to the sentence, the writer as an "unconscious" medium, and the author's advice on discovering one's own process. "Wild Animals" was first published in NER 44.2 (summer 2023).

Irish poet Nessa O'Mahony reads her poem "Cillín," published in NER 44.2, followed by an interview with summer interns Cali Jantzen and Gavin Richards. Their discussion traverses the “hidden histories” of Ireland, the politics of memory, and the role of poetry in reckoning with the past. The poem appears in NER's special feature "The Door Left Wide: Poets in Tribute to Eavan Boland."

El Williams III reads his poem "There Was a Brood," followed by an interview with Yardena Carmi. Their discussion explores writing about place and personal experience, as well as the poet's inspirations for this piece, which turns car trouble, summer heat, and a brood of cicadas into poetry.

Katie Moulton reads an excerpt from her essay "The Elvis Room" (NER 43.3), followed by a conversation with host, Becca Clark. The author discusses her writing and editing processes, memorializing her dad, her family's fascination with Elvis Presley, and more.

Fiction writer A. E Kulze reads from her story "The Ladybugs," followed by a conversation with podcast hosts Andrew Grossman and Kate Sadoff. Kulze talks about her writing process, the role of the unconscious in forming the whole, and the joy of a perfect editorial cut. She also speaks more broadly about gender and domesticity, the failures of contemporary feminism, and the Desert Mothers, who've been largely forgotten to history. "The Ladybugs" was published in NER 43.2 (summer 2022).

Hosts Andrew Grossman and Kate Sadoff present an excerpt from the play "Splits/kin," co-authored by Milia Ayache and Amina Hassan, followed by a conversation with the authors. They talk about their process of collaboration, the influence of fairy tales and founding myths, and the global love affair between fathers and their television sets. The excerpt from the play is performed by Leslie Sainz and Andrew Grossman. "Splits/kin" was originally published in NER 43.2 (summer 2022) as part of the international feature on Lebanese writers.

Helene Achanzar reads her poem "Chicago," followed by a conversation with Tejas Srinivasan about poetic structure, the realities of labor, modern paintings, her beloved home city, and more. Helene Achanzar is the winner of NER's 2022 Emerging Writers' Award. A Filipina-Canadian poet and educator, she is an associate editor for Poetry Northwest and director of programs at the Chicago Poetry Center.  Her poems “Chicago” and “Etymology” were published in NER 42.4 (fall 2021).

Lu Mila and Michelle Marquez read two works of short fiction by Cuban authors Anna Lidia Vega Serova and Jorge Enrique Lage, both translated by Jennifer Shyue. Podcast host Madison Middleton interviews Shyue, who talks about how she fell in love with translation and details some of the pleasures and perils of this exacting and creative work. Both works of fiction were originally published in NER 42.1, in spring 2021, as part of the "Cuban Literature Today" feature.

Jesse Lee Kercheval reads her essay "Crash," followed by a conversation with Rebecca Amen. The short essay interrogates the author's memory of a shocking car accident that took place more than 50 years ago. In the interview, Kercheval further explores the nature of memory, essay writing in general, and her work as a translator of Uruguayan poetry. "Crash" was originally published in NER 42.2 (summer 2021). This episode was produced by Rebecca Amen, Middlebury College class of 2022.

Michael McGriff reads an excerpt from his poem "Questions for the Interrogation," followed by an interview with Yardena Carmi. Their conversation explores the poem's tribute to rural Oregon and Pablo Neruda, the limitations of memory and language, and McGriff's work as a translator. This excerpt from "Questions for the Interrogation" was originally published in NER 42.1 (spring 2021). The episode was produced by Yardena Carmi, Middlebury College class of 2023.

Celeste Levy reads the poem "Offered as Suddenly a Forest" by Zach Linge. The reading is followed by a conversation between Celeste and Zach, who talk about the poem from both the reader's and the writer's points of view. They explore the origins of the poem's images, writing during the pandemic, and the shades of truth that poetry can reveal.

Madison Middleton reads from the short story "Suffering in Motion" by McKenna Marsden, followed by a conversation between reader and writer. The story was originally published in NER in spring 2020. Episode hosted by Carolyn Kuebler, Editor of NER.

Hosted by Courtney Wright, this episode features an essay by Jessie van Eerden, "A Story of Mary and Martha Taking in a Foster Girl," and an interview with the author, followed by a poem by John Freeman, "Columbine and Rue." "A Story of Mary and Martha..." was originally published in NER 40.3 and is read by Francis Price. "Columbine and Rue" was published in NER 41.1 and is read by Nimaya Lemal.

Hosted by Simone Edgar Holmes, this episode presents four poems from NER's special feature on contemporary poets from the UK, edited by Marilyn Hacker. Shazea Quraishi reads "Elegy"; Seni Seneviratne reads "A Girl in the Woods"; Naomi Foyle reads "Made from Fibres Not Readily Penetrated"; and Sasha Dugdale brings it home with "Chair No. 14." All of these poems can be found at www.nereview, issue 41.2.

Simone Edgar Holmes presents NER writers George Szirtes, Joannie Stangeland, and Angelique Stevens reading their new work. Listen in as George Szirtes reads his poem “English Rain,” Joannie Stangeland reads her poem “Parcel,” and Angelique Stevens reads from her memoir “The Only Light We've Got”—all published in recent issues of the New England Review.

Hosted by Ruhamah Weil, Episode 10 presents Jan Beatty, Greg Johnson, and Jakob Maier, reading their own work from New England Review 40.4. Jan Beatty reads her poem “The Body Wars,” Greg Johnson reads excerpts from his memoir “Daddy’s Aitch,” and Jakob Maier reads his poem “Food Court Ghost Town.” Ruhamah also spoke briefly to Tricia Allen, of the Ilsley Public Library in downtown Middlebury, about the power of poetry.