“Fiction should deepen and expand our understanding of what it means to be human in our world.”
Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from and what do you do when you’re not reading for NER? What made you decide to be a reader for NER, and how long have you been on staff?
I’m a Bengali-American writer and teacher living in Washington, DC. Although I was born in New York, I spent most of my childhood and my teenage years in Bangladesh. Consequently, Bengali poets and writers have profoundly influenced and shaped my work. I now teach college writing and creative writing at the University of Maryland. In my spare time I enjoy reading, exploring the city, traveling, and trying new bakeries. One of my most memorable leisure experiences was in a small café I happened upon in Brussels. I also love jazz. Charlie Parker often brightens my day. Visiting Ronnie Scott’s in London is another cherished memory.
I studied political science as an undergraduate student. I was relatively new to the literary field when I began my graduate studies at University of Maryland’s MFA program. Emily Mitchell, fiction editor for NER, who is also a professor in the creative writing program, introduced me to the journal. While developing my own sensibilities as a student writer, I also became a devoted reader. Working with writers like Emily Mitchell, Maud Casey, and Tania James opened my eyes to how fiction should work and what fiction should do. After graduating, I felt compelled to discover more and so I began reading fiction for NER. I’ve been on staff since 2018.
What is your reading process like? What do you look for in a submission?
My process involves reading three or four submissions at a time. I prefer reading for New England Review with a fresh cup of coffee in the morning or early afternoon, when I am most open to absorb something new. In each batch, there are roughly two or three stories that stand out. These are the stories I reread to determine if they are meant for NER.
When I read fiction submissions, I try to recognize what the writer expresses about what it means to be human. Matthew Salesses talks about craft as nothing more or less than a set of cultural expectations. When reading a story, I am eager to uncover how a writer shows their knowledge of cultural craft expectations. How are they conveying these expectations? How are they subverting them? Fiction should deepen and expand our understanding of what it means to be human in our world.
Of the pieces you’ve read in NER, which have been most memorable to you personally?
I’m thrilled when a story is disarming and transports me somewhere I didn’t expect to find myself.
Of the published works—so many. I often think about Maud Casey’s “The City Itself”, which was published in 2020. She asks, “Who leaves this world gently? . . . Who are you who am I where are we going what is this feeling inside of me why why why what does it all mean, etc.” Haunting. I’ve also taught Victoria Chang’s poem, “Marfa, Texas,” also published in 2020, where she writes, “To / have a heart // like this is to be made of / midnight.”
How has reading for NER influenced your own writing/creative pursuits?
Reading for New England Review engages me in my own education and practice. For each submission I pay attention to how much care the writer puts into developing the story to make it something of its own. How are they using language? How are they building sentences? Does the story feel inevitable? As a creative writing instructor and workshop leader, I think about evolving workshop models, and reading for NER allows me to reevaluate and develop pedagogical methods and workshop models that would demystify fiction and its writing process.
Another joy of reading for NER is being in conversation with multimedia artists, writers, translators, and poets. I’ve interviewed several of my favorite poets including US Poet Laureate Ada Limón. I’ve had conversations with Victoria Chang, Charif Shanahan, Diana Khoi Nguyen, Fiona Sampson, and several other incredible artists. As an avid fiction and poetry reader, I have so many questions stored up in me, and at times, it feels like a dream that I get to ask these questions to the writers and poets themselves. These conversations add significant depth to my inner world.
What do you read for pleasure? Is there something you’re reading at the moment that you would recommend?
I love reading poetry. This summer I read Monica Sok’s debut poetry collection A Nail the Evening Hangs On and currently I’m working my way through Tracy K. Smith’s Such Color. I’m also preparing my syllabus for a form and theory class I will teach next semester on short prose forms. Right now, I am re-reading books I am considering for the class including Jeremy Noel-Tod’s The Penguin Book of the Prose Poem and Maggie Nelson’s Bluets.
Our staff readers, all volunteers, play an essential role in our editorial process and in our mission to discover new voices in contemporary literature. A full list of staff readers is available on our masthead.