Supplies and printers and writers have aligned: NER 42.4 ships today!

Last year at this time we released our first issue dedicated exclusively to emerging writers, and now with 42.4 we’ve done it again. While this issue offers up the range of voices, genres, and styles New England Review promises every quarter, this time that mission is accomplished by writers who have not yet published a book or full-length collection.

As nonfiction editor J. M. Tyree says, “The sense of discovery and futurity that comes from reading writers who are working on their first books refreshes my sense of purpose and mission as an editor.” And with this issue, we offer that same sense to our readers.

The lineup includes a dozen poets, a first English translation, and eight works of fiction, with settings that range from the Upper East Side of Manhattan to Caracas, Venezuela; the estate of Andrew Johnson to the Russian town of Malinovka. Essays look at get-rich-quick schemes in 1970s South Korea, the films of Clint Eastwood, a mother’s haunting bedtime stories, and more. See the full table of contents here.

Some of these writers have received recognition in other ways—awards and earlier magazine publications—and many have surely completed a book-length manuscript or two that they’ve not yet published, as it’s no myth that many “debut” book publications are not the writer’s first attempt. But what’s true of all these writers is that they captured our attention, opened our minds, and will certainly be heard from again soon.

Read the work that made poetry editor Jennifer Chang want “to linger and learn how to acclimate to the weirdness.” Order a copy of the current issue today in print or ebook, or—better yet—subscribe and support NER all year long!