WHAT does it mean to be an editor? What is it about a piece of writing that engages us not only as readers, but also as editors? How is it that we can fall under the spell of a particular story so deeply that it feels as if time stops, the outside world falls away, and our senses are immersed on a level that is difficult to explain? What is that feeling, and how can we remain open to its mysteries? We both edit prose for Chestnut Review, a quarterly literary magazine that publishes poetry, art, fiction, and nonfiction, and late last year we decided to exchange letters to begin to answer these questions.
We both started as “first readers” before becoming prose editors in early 2022. Chestnut Review, founded in 2019, responds to all submissions within thirty days. When a piece comes in, one of us assigns it to a first reader. If it gets upvoted we assign a second reader, and if it gets upvoted again we read and review it along with our associate prose editor, Praise Osawaru. We hold a meeting with the prose team every quarter to narrow down the shortlist and decide which pieces we’ll publish in the upcoming issue. We split up the accepted pieces and work with the authors on edits, often going through three or four rounds of revision. Before launch, we copyedit each other’s pieces and collect artist statements, audio recordings, bios, and author photos. For a magazine that received 12,001 submissions last year, it’s a fast and carefully considered process.
It is a lot of work, as anyone who has been on the staff of a literary magazine or other independent publisher knows all too well, and it’s easy to get wrapped up in it without stopping to reflect on what you’ve learned along the way and how you’re processing all the decisions that go into an issue. These letters are our attempts to slow down and remember the personal side of the work and to better understand and celebrate all the magic that goes into the mix.
January 1, 2023
Dear Nadia,
It’s an unseasonably at the theater. I read the book by Miriam Toews several years ago and remembered liking it but not the specifics of character or plot. How is your memory for books? Mine is very short.
