This spring Maya Hynes and Margaux Joly spent part of their Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays in the New England Review office. They read paper submissions in all genres, performed their original writing for our annual NER Out Loud event, hosted a lively reading and open mic for fellow students, and much more. Here they interview each other for our “Meet the Interns” series.
Where are you from? What brought you to Middlebury?
Maya Hynes: I’m from Waterbury, Vermont, which is about an hour and fifteen minutes from here. I’m definitely a homebody, but I also just really loved Middlebury’s credit system and its many student clubs and orgs!
Margaux Joly: I was born and raised in New York City and wanted to come to Middlebury for a change of pace from the hectic, environment I grew up in. I also went to a pretty small high school, so I thought I would feel more comfortable at a small college rather than a big state school.
How did you discover the New England Review?
MH: During my second semester at Middlebury, I attended the fall Ulysses reading and became set on becoming an intern! I met Leslie (NER‘s managing editor) there for the first time, and she encouraged me to get involved. I remember going to the reading, which happened to be on the day of a major tragedy on campus, and the energy in the room was palpable. It really made me want to get involved with a group of people who clearly value community and the written word.
MJ: I initially heard about NER after attending two readings they hosted in fall 2024. I’d also seen print issues sprawled across campus. After my friend participated in one of the student reading series events, I was really struck by how warm and inviting the environment felt. I was excited at the chance to host my own student reading event, so I applied!
What is your favorite task here in the office?
MH: My favorite task in the office has definitely been planning and helping at NER events! I absolutely loved getting to plan our own student reading series and serving mocktails at the April Ulysses event. Aside from that, I have also loved reading submissions. I found it so cool that Leslie and Carolyn (NER editor) trust us with this task. It really feels like our judgement matters and will be taken into account when selecting writing for the print journal.
MJ: Similar to you, I found planning, helping out with, and participating in NER events to be so fun and rewarding. It’s nice to get to interact with the people who attend. Also, we stepped out of our comfort zones this semester and read our own work at NER Out Loud which was very intimidating but was ultimately such a great experience. Other than that I loved creating posts in WordPress for the website. It was cool to see the articles once they were published and be like, “Oh I did that!” Formatting those posts definitely scratched an itch in my organization-craving brain.
Why should someone apply for an NER internship?
MH: I highly recommend the NER internship! Carolyn, Leslie, and Mary-Heather (and Cinder), are so warm and welcoming. They are incredibly communicative and are always willing to answer questions. Through this job I was able to get a glimpse into the world of literary magazines, which was an invaluable experience! The staff here would often share the ongoings with their work, inviting us to voice our opinions on cover art, help process contracts, and read submissions. I think they really care about us getting to know the ins and outs of running a literary journal, which I really appreciated.
MJ: I think someone should apply to NER if they are looking for a collaborative, open work environment. Carolyn, Leslie, and Mary-Heather are so lovely and always there to clarify or help on any tasks. On top of that, having another intern alongside you is really nice, even if you’re not working directly together all the time, just to have someone you get to work with every week. There is such a nice sense of community at NER, which can be also seen at the events hosted throughout the semester. It’s been such a positive place to work.
What are your top three albums and top three books?
MH: The hardest question ever! For albums, I would probably go with Brothers by The Black Keys, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill, and Kings of Leon’s Aha Shake Heartbreak. As for books, I always refer back to books that were big for me in high school. I loved Gather by Kenneth M. Cadow, which takes place in Vermont! The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison is definitely up there. I read Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying on a high school trip to India with a bunch of my classmates, and one of my most vivid memories is of dissecting that crazy book while sitting outside eating dinner.
MJ: Currently I’ve been listening to Maya Hawke’s new album MAITREYA CORSO on repeat, and I think it has definitely become one of my favorite albums. My others would have to be Abandoned Lunchonette by Daryl Hall and John Oates, and then maybe I quit by HAIM. I always say my two favorite books are Normal People by Sally Rooney and Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan because I read them both at a very formative time in my life and was so moved by them. A recent favorite that I’ve been thinking about a lot has been Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk. I can’t even put into words how good and evocative it is, but if you like a very subtle thriller I couldn’t recommend more!
What was your favorite NER event this semester?
MH: I think my favorite event has got to be our student reading series! It was so cool to see kids who I’ve seen around campus, who I had no idea were writers, stand up and read their amazing writing. I also have to mention NER Out Loud, which was a really wonderful experience. Leslie spent time coaching us on how to best read our writing aloud, which I definitely improved my public speaking skills!
MJ: I loved every single event that NER put on this semester but I think if I had to choose it would be the student reading series we hosted. It was really fun to hear student writing and watch all the readers’ friends show up in support of them. It was also really exciting to get to plan and organize the event ourselves, which made it all feel so rewarding when it went smoothly!