James Taylor (right) and friends during his time at Middlebury, where he majored in French and Literary Studies.
Editorial intern Kaela Loftus ‘24.5 speaks with James Taylor ’14—a former NER intern and current employee at the US Consulate General in Dubai—about memories of his time at NER, postgraduate life, and working in foreign relations.
Kaela Loftus: Where are you now, professionally and geographically?
James Taylor: Since 2022 I’ve been living in Dubai and working at the US Consulate General in this strange and exciting city. Professionally, this was a bit of a transition for me, as I spent eight years in the international development and humanitarian response space after leaving Middlebury. I’m currently drawing to the end of my first tour as a public diplomacy-focused Foreign Service Officer, and I work predominantly in the Consular section. Largely, this means I hold visa interviews with Iranians who want to travel to the US for tourism, studies, or business—the Iranian expat population in the UAE being one of the largest outside of Iran. Geographically, I’m back in the part of the world I’ve come to feel very strongly about. I studied Arabic in Oman during grad school (at MIIS!) and worked for an NGO in Tunisia after that. Certainly, the politics in the region are currently turbulent, but the people are remarkable and kind. I’m very grateful to be here.
KL: Since graduating from Middlebury, you’ve pursued an MFA and are working with the US Department of State. How did you find yourself working here?
JT: I first came in contact with the Foreign Service while working as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Rwanda after graduating from Middlebury. It was a pleasant surprise to learn that diplomats were down-to-earth people and that they weren’t all that different from me and my grubby Peace Corps friends! They talked about books and movies at the dinner table, called their parents regularly, and traveled around the country following the Guma Guma Super Star music festival just like we did. Knowing that I wanted to pursue my career abroad with organizations that were doing meaningful work, I shelved the Foreign Service Officers’ Test as something to learn more about in the future, and life continued. When I left Rwanda and returned to grad school, I decided to apply and see where things carried me. The application process is famously lengthy and convoluted, so without really placing my eggs in that particular basket, I made my way through the test, essays, and interview while applying for other jobs. I ended up accepting a position with Catholic Relief Services and moving to Laos after graduation, and around the time my two-year contract was drawing to a close with CRS, I received an invitation to join the incoming A-100 class in Washington. The timing was impeccable, so I wrapped up my work in Laos and moved back to the US to study Farsi for my current job.
KL: Where did you initially expect your career to take you after Middlebury, and how has that path changed?
JT: To be honest, my decision to pursue Literary Studies and French while at school was not the most practical choice, but these were subjects that I loved (and love). Through books and conversations with other people, I learned how much more there was to discover about the world, and as I got more familiar with some of the big, sticky problems we face as a global population, I looked for where I might be of use in the efforts to make life a little easier, healthier, or longer for others. I was terrifically happy working in international development and got a lot of meaning from the projects I was a part of. Sometime in the future, I will likely conclude my career in that sector. However, through my experiences in NGOs, I also learned a lot about where policies come from, how development frameworks are designed and passed on to implementing partners, and where lack of coordination gets in the way of intended results. These are mostly governmental and intergovernmental issues. So for now I’m pursuing an extended sabbatical in government to understand what can be done about making our aid and development systems function better.
KL: What advice do you have for recent graduates who are looking to pursue postgraduate work or are searching for their career path?
JT: Cliche, but true: whatever you do next should be something you get excited about—or a necessary step on the path to get there. We spend too many hours of the day at work, or getting ready for work, or coming home from work for it to be a nonstop killjoy. If you’re interested in continuing to study, and have the opportunity, seize it! School is such a marvelous gift. I hope that I’ll get to go back someday. And if heading into the workforce, look for a nexus with the things you tell your sister about over the phone, the things your friends know you love. Someone I knew at Middlebury went on tour with his Scottish funk band for 5-6 years after graduating, and I’m probably the most jealous of him.
KL: Are there skills you learned while working with the NER that still help you today?
JT: Absolutely. Close reading was an important element of many courses at Middlebury, but I felt compelled to take it to a different level during my time with NER. I looked up to both Carolyn Kuebler and Stephen Donadio immensely, and would hang on their descriptions of what made or didn’t make a poem or a short story work for them. As a reader of incoming submissions, I wanted to not only make sound choices about what we should consider for publication, but also be able to articulate what was the source of the piece’s shine, or the ways in which it fell short. I became a much better reader during my time with the Review, and learned from two people who had made it their profession to read well.
KL: What is one of your favorite memories from your time with the NER?
JT: I adored waking up on campus during my summer internship and walking the mile or so past the gym, the football stadium, and the golf course to the NER’s sequestered offices. A bit of a sensualist at heart then, I would often go barefoot through the rough and across the fairways. It was a beautiful feeling, to be outside in the Vermont sunshine, knowing that I would receive a paycheck that day for sitting in a cozy nook and reading poems, or preparing for the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. A feeling of calm contentment really suffused that summer for me, largely due to the NER.
There was also an evening cocktail party held at then-editor Stephen Donadio’s house, where all sorts of literary bigwigs showed up and milled around talking about exciting things. When the event was over a group of us piled into a van going back to campus, and Natasha Trethewey, US Poet Laureate, was unable to find a seat and decided to sit in my lap. It was a very memorable way to be introduced to the nation’s top poet. I’m looking forward to a trip back to Vermont in the next few years, and NER will be high on my list of places to visit.