New England Review

New Episode of NER Out Loud

A. E. Kulze: On ladybugs and female mystics

“If you don’t think the lives of women hold as much value as the lives of men, for thousands of years, a thousand years later you’re not going to know very much about the women that existed in those time periods.”

Created, edited, and hosted by NER summer interns Andrew Grossman and Kate Sadoff, NER Out Loud episode 21 presents a reading and conversation with A. E. Kulze, author of the short story “The Ladybugs” from NER 43.2 (summer 2022).

After reading an excerpt from her story, 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.

Listen to the new episode on Soundcloud—and subscribe to NER Out Loud on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher!

Andrew Grossman and Kate Sadoff are Middlebury College students, both English majors with a focus on creative writing, class of 2023.5. As NER‘s summer podcast and publicity interns for 2022, they also produced NER Out Loud episode 20, featuring coauthors Milia Ayache and Amina Hassan and their play “Splits/kin” published in NER 43.2 (summer 2022) as part of the international feature on Lebanese writers.

Andrew Grossman (left) and Kate Sadoff (right)

New Episode of NER Out Loud

Milia Ayache & Amina Hassan: Collaboration & Conversation

Milia Ayache (left) and Amina Hassan (right)

“This play couldn’t have been anything but collaborative, because it came out of this rupture of a moment right before the revolution.”

Created, edited, and hosted by NER summer interns Andrew Grossman and Kate Sadoff, NER Out Loud episode 20 presents a dramatic reading from the play “Splits/kin,” co-authored by Milia Ayache and Amina Hassan, followed by a conversation with the authors.

The excerpt from the play is performed by Leslie Sainz and Andrew Grossman. The wide-ranging conversation, which brings voices together from Vermont, Beirut, and Berlin, focuses on the process of creative collaboration during a time of anxiety and upheaval.

“Splits/kin” was originally published in NER 43.2 (summer 2022) as part of the international feature on Lebanese writers.

Listen to the new episode on Soundcloud—and subscribe!

Andrew Grossman and Kate Sadoff are Middlebury College students, both English majors with a focus on creative writing, class of 2023.5. As NER‘s summer podcast and publicity interns for 2022, they also produced NER Out Loud Episode 21, featuring fiction writer A. E. Kulze, which will be released later this fall.

Andrew Grossman (left) and Kate Sadoff (right)

New episode of NER Out Loud!

Poetry and conversation: Helene Achanzar

“There is more than enough wonder and curiosity and rage and humor and despair to make for good poems, the question is really how to translate those experiences so that the mundane becomes remarkable.” —Helene Achanzar

Created, edited, and hosted by Tejas Srinivasan ’23, NER Out Loud episode 19 presents Helene Achanzar reading her poem “Chicago” (NER 42.4), followed by a conversation 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 is currently working as The Director of Programs at the Chicago Poetry Center. Her poems “Chicago” and “Etymology” were published in NER 42.4. 

You can stream the NER Out Loud podcast from our website or Soundcloud. Or download from iTunes and subscribe!

Tejas Srinivasan is NER‘s spring 2022 podcast producer. He is a sophomore English major at Middlebury College, focusing on postmodern fiction and literary theory. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, he is also an opinions editor at the Middlebury Campus and a classical pianist, studying and performing repertoire from the 1600s to present day.

Cuban fiction in translation

New podcast features translator Jennifer Shyue

In the new episode of the NER Out Loud podcast, Jennifer Shyue talks about how she fell in love with translation and details some of the pleasures and perils of this exacting and creative work.

Created, edited, and hosted by Madison Middleton ‘22.5, NER Out Loud episode 18 presents Anna Lidia Vega Serova‘s “Portrait of My Mother-in-Law with Subsequent Touch-Ups” read by Middlebury College theater major Lu Mila, and Jorge Enrique Lage‘s “Selections from Vultureffect” read by Michelle Marquez, a literature and creative writing.

Both of these selections were originally published in the “Cuban Literature Today” feature in NER 42.1, and both were translated by Jennifer Shyue. Listen in as Jennifer discusses her process, from choosing what to translate to reading aloud for sound and rhythm. “A lot of the problem solving is similar between writing and translation,” she says, but to her, “Translation was always the most fun part of writing without the more stressful parts.”

You can stream the NER Out Loud podcast from our website or Soundcloud. Or download from iTunes and subscribe!

Madison Middleton ‘22.5 is a theater and music joint major with foci in acting, playwriting, vocal performance, and composition. Madison is a member of the Middlebury College Choir and an Oratory Now coach. For Episode 14 of NER Out Loud, posted in spring 2021, they read from McKenna Marsden’s short story “Suffering in Motion” and interviewed the author.

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