The New England Review

I chose to write my review on the New England Review (NER), Volume 29, Number 3; mostly because it was available in our library. The journal is published by Middlebury College in 4 installments each year. The journal is a compilation of critical articles, short fiction and nonfiction works as well as several poems, from a variety of authors that prior to this assignment I had no idea existed. The cover of the journal is a piece by Maureen O’Hara Ure and is the reason I first picked up this particular issue. I would love a poster like this for my room. Apart from the cover art, there is no color and are no images at all. The journal is published entirely on recycled paper and has the same textural quality as the paper of a paperback book. In fact, it is just about the same size as a large paperback book. A single issue sells for $8.00 and a year’s subscription is $25.00. I looked for a mission statement or anything of a similar nature and couldn’t find one. So I looked for one online and there wasn’t one to be found. Working from the actual journal all I was able to decipher was that it publishes a variety of works by a variety of authors, both established and up and coming (judging from the author notes in the back of the issue).

The stories in this journal are varied. From abstract poems to a collection of letters to an entire story told in short staccato sentences, the prose ranges all over. One of the themes of this collection of pieces was nighttime. For the most part all of the pieces either occurred or were about the nighttime. I particularly liked the poem “Aubade” by Gary L. McDowell. The last verse was my favorite: The body mustn’t die./ Night must evolve. In the milk of dark,/ fingers turn to wings and we sleep:/ come lay me down. Of the fiction pieces, I really did not enjoy “Trouble” by Stephan O’ Connor. The style was choppy and not something I would look for in any type of writing. At first I thought the staccato sentences were neat but after the fifth I was dying for them to end. I kept counting how many pages were left of the story and the answer was always too many. On the other hand, I really enjoyed “Horses” by Molia Dumbelton. I found her prose style easy to read and very engaging. I suggest her to everyone in the class.

Over all I think that the NER is a decent literary journal. I don’t know that I will pick it up again but I don’t know that I won’t either. Literary journals have never been something I have set out to find in a library but I enjoyed reading some of the pieces in this one. If ever I manage to get a piece to a state where it could be published, I will certainly consider sending it to the NER.