Introducing Graduate Student Readers from the JHU MA in Writing Program
by Barbara Westwood Diehl
Baltimore-area students at various stages in their programs—as well as recent writing program alumni—have served as volunteers over the years, and we are grateful for their contributions. The students have devoted time to voting and commenting on submissions, proofreading issues, writing blog posts, and representing the journal at literary events. I should acknowledge those contributions from students working with us in various capacities much more in the future. I truly am grateful for their help. And I like to think that experience “on the editor side of Submittable” is valuable for them, as well.
The Baltimore Review is pleased to have a group of volunteer readers from the Johns Hopkins University MA in Writing program on board! Hear what some of these students have to say about their program and their volunteer work with the journal.
Samantha Schlemm
When I moved to Baltimore two years ago, I decided to get my master's in creative nonfiction writing at Johns Hopkins. This part-time program allows me to work as a copywriter by day and write personal essays and stories by night. Class by class, I’ve learned countless techniques and read inspiring work from my classmates. And last summer, I spent a week writing, exploring, and connecting with writers from JHU whom I trust and respect at a week-long residency in Missoula, Montana. These friendships are the greatest thing I’ve taken away from the program.
The Baltimore Review is the first literary magazine I’ve volunteered for as a reader, and I’m excited to build more relationships and to discover new, memorable stories. There are so many spectacular pieces submitted to the magazine that it’s impossible to publish them all. The submissions that have stood out to me the most so far, both fiction and creative nonfiction, have taken a new look at deep and relatable topics. Whether it’s a risky structure or an unusual point of view, I’m looking for something new—a narrative full of specific details, beautifully structured sentences with pacing that builds tension, characters that are round, and places that draw me right smack into the center of the story.
Lauren Watts
I am a creative nonfiction writer and enjoy reading work from writers like Joan Didion, Janet Fitch, and Rupi Kaur. While currently living in Maryland, I found the Johns Hopkins Writing program as the best fit for me and my future in writing. So far in my courses at JHU, I have particularly loved reading as well as analyzing short stories by Michael Paterniti while getting to know my fellow classmates.
My experience volunteering for the BR has been a totally new experience for me. I was unsure as to what I expected since I had never had this sort of opportunity before, but I am truly enjoying it. As a reader, I vote on pieces in every genre, agreeing or kindly disagreeing with fellow readers along the way. I love reading the incredible, innovative submissions that come through the BR—especially the ones that make me want to read them over and over again, warming up after that first cold read.
Julia Wilson
I live outside of Washington, D.C. with my husband and whichever of my three grown children happen to be socially distancing at the moment. I started post-college life as a writer and editor at various small news organizations. After taking some time off to stay home with my children, I reentered the work force as a trained and certified hospital-based lactation consultant. Upon retirement, I started taking writing classes, thinking my focus would be non-fiction. I was surprised to find out that my preference turned out to be fiction writing, so I enrolled in the JHU MA in Fiction Writing program. My writing has been published in Erma Bombeck’s Writers Workshop and Bethesda Magazine.
I jumped at the opportunity to read for BR because, first of all, I love reading other people’s work and, second of all, I was interested in a behind-the-scenes look at a literary journal. I read fiction and CNF for the journal. As a novice at this work, I was surprised to see the vast numbers of submissions that roll in. I had no idea that one lone submission is competing with hundreds of others. When I read, I don’t look at the author’s bio until I’m finished because I don’t want that information to influence me. I don’t want to know that the writer is a first-year in college or has been published in The New Yorker until after I’ve finished reading the piece.