A Conversation with The Editors of The Hooghly Review
Interviewed by Suchita Senthil Kumar, EIC of Zhagaram Literary.
Thank you for taking the time to have a conversation with me for Zhagaram. Congratulations on being voted the Top #3 Chill Subs’ Best Lit Mag of 2023. Could you share with our readers the way you felt when you first heard the news?
Tejaswinee: Thanks! I remember texting Ankit at warp speed with sweaty palms. My texts read: “WE ARE NUMBER 3,” “Woooohoooooo,” “HOLY SHIT,” and “aaaaaahhhhh.” Plus, the screenshots and stuff. And then I ran to tell mom, prancing around like an excited monkey. I didn’t even notice there was prize money and when mom asked me if there would be, I confidently said, “Nope, but it doesn’t matter.” So, we put out our tweets and all and some 3 hours later, I re-read the email and there was prize money too.
Ankit: Thank you! It was immensely gratifying to know that the magazine is valued by so many. It’s tough to recall every thought from that day (there were tons), but I do remember thanking the universe for pushing me into the arts. And I think that’s worth remembering.
As an Indian myself, I remember feeling immensely proud and emotionally attached to the magazine the second I read its name: The Hooghly Review. Could you give us a glimpse of what went behind this name?
Tejaswinee: I had been wanting to start a magazine since early 2021, toying around with a bunch of different names — The Calcutta Quarterly, The Bengal Review, Hijibiji Magazine (‘hijibiji’ is Bengali for ‘scribble’) were the top contenders for a very long time. The recurring theme in these names had something to do with Bengal as I’m from here. However, I stalled. Eventually, by July 2022, I settled on the open-access non-profit model and realised I needed to announce the magazine if I had to start publishing in 2023 — the year I turn 30! At the time, The Hooghly Review, as a name just happened and it felt right. I have spent all my life by the Hooghly river, in the Hooghly district, and currently, she’s gently flowing about 150 meters East of me. Look, I don’t plan on living by the Hooghly forever but the thing is, I don’t have a lot of conventional roots, you know, other than mom, the Hooghly has been the only constant in my life. Everything else is volatile. So, like I said, The Hooghly Review just felt right. And I am so happy the name clicked, a lot of people seem to like it, you included. Thank you for that.
Ankit: The admiration is mutual. The name Zhagaram looked fascinating when I first saw it on X/Twitter. (I’m particularly fond of the hard-to-pronounce, Thamizh ‘Zh’, which is unique to few Indian languages. I have often practised pronouncing it when no one’s looking — there goes a secret!) I googled the word and loved all it stands for.
About our magazine, it was, obviously, the founding editor Tejaswinee who came up with the name. I have been a river-lover myself, having lived near the Ganga and the Mahanadi (among their offshoots) most of my life. I had this one encounter with the Hooghly I’d like to tell you about. I lived in Bhubaneswar for a few years and this one time, I had a connecting flight from Kolkata to Patna which got delayed, sparing me time to loaf around in the city. My fascination with rivers took me to the banks of the Hooghly, and the hours went by taking aimless ferry rides, drinking sattu by the ghat, seeing things in a riverside park too scandalous to share with family audience, and sampling delicious street food. It was a day that stayed with me, for I like the time in between destinations — time that I feel allows you to be yourself off the record. Tejaswinee’s offer asking me to join The Hooghly Review sent me years ago to that simple yet eventful day, and it was easy after that.
I absolutely love the aesthetics of the digital website of the magazine. It is striking, visually pleasing and pure perfection. I love the font in the logo and the little paper boat in the corner. Does it represent something? What does it symbolise?
Tejaswinee: Oh, thank you! The boat was an accident. When Ankit asked me to redo the logo after Issue 1, I was going through some free templates on a website (forgot the name now) under the keyword ‘river’. And one of the templates had that boat (you can still see it on the header of the Weekly Features page). When I redid the logo again, I switched to a paper boat. I later found out that a boat, among other things, symbolises forward movement irrespective of the direction of the tide. I love that.
Ankit: All credit goes to Tejaswinee. She does the website; I’m the nosy Indian aunty offering unsolicited advice.
Is there an album or movie you think best represents the spirit of your magazine? (feel free to mention more than one)
Tejaswinee: I have never thought about this. But now that I do, a song comes to mind — ‘Touch the Sky’ from the OST of Brave. Pay attention to the lyrics: “Where dark woods hide secrets / And mountains are fierce and bold / Deep waters hold reflections / Of times lost long ago / I will hear their every story / Take hold of my own dream / Be as strong as the seas are stormy / And proud as an eagle’s scream.” I have always thought this song represents my independent spirit but I can interpret it as reading a variety of submissions and growing with them.
Ankit: Too many favourites to count. But I’ll give you a few. Noel Gallagher’s words from the Oasis song, “Don’t Look Back in Anger”: “So I start a revolution from my bed.” Movies such as Almost Famous, Sing Street, School of Rock, Midnight in Paris, Stranger than Fiction, Dead Poets Society etc. Roberto Bolaño’s The Savage Detectives and the Pedro Camacho story arc from Mario Vargas Llosa’s Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter. You’ll know what I mean if you read/watch these.
There are limited options available for young writers to submit their work to, especially if they aren’t teenagers yet. I think it’s wonderful how you have an accessible space for little creative minds through your Wee Hooghly issues. Do you have any favourite memories from curating for this special edition?
Tejaswinee: Oh, I absolutely enjoyed working on the PDF. All the graphics you’ve seen, their inclusion was directly inspired by the work we had accepted. And these young ones made me believe in magic again.
Ankit: I had a great time working with the kids and their parents. There are many favourite memories. One is when I figured that the youngest writer we have published is 6, and the oldest, above 80. Another is when we sent a kid an acceptance for Wee Hooghly and one for her mother for the Weekly Features, both around the same time. Yet another was having a mother tell us how her kid screamed, “I have fans in India!” We loved it when a father — a poet himself — tweeted that his son had beat him at the debut game by decades. Then there’s this kid who was worried her teachers would find out and was hell bent on using a pseudonym. I had to convince her, via her mom, that the teachers would be proud.
What does a day in the life of the Editors of The Hooghly Review look like?
Tejaswinee: Currently it looks busy and cluttered due to which the magazine often gets pushed aside, sometimes for days. I need some time to get everything in order and be more consistent in the way I work on the magazine.
Ankit: Most days are the same, varying only on the scale of boring to fun. I teach English at a college. Evenings are spent in chores and long walks paired with audiobooks. I try to read, write, edit and/or watch movies at night.
Have you noticed any emerging trends or themes in the submissions you receive?
Tejaswinee: While curating the prose for Issue 3, I noted a lot of writers played with speculative elements in varied degrees, delved into new depths of darkness, wrote grey characters, and played around with notions of morality. I thoroughly enjoyed that. Bold personal narratives and emotional write-ups have been usual for us and I love that too.
Ankit: I look mostly at the poetry, drama and Weeklies submissions, and I love it that our contributors send us a heavy dose of personal/emotional writing, narrative poems, humour, and culture-heavy pieces. Someone has rightly said that you attract what you are. These are some styles (among others) I particularly enjoy, and they almost always land in my reading queue.
What kind of work would you like to see more of in the submissions’ inbox for your magazine?
Tejaswinee: I don’t really have a preference. My goal is to make it exciting for the reader and I will always look for variety in the read pile and mix things up.
Ankit: I’m not picky. I enjoy every genre, every style. And I’d love our submitters to send in a healthy mix. Perhaps more magic realist, postmodernist, surrealist, and historical writing? But try me with anything and everything you’ve got. If I like it, I like it.
What advice would you give someone aiming to submit to your magazine?
Tejaswinee: Please read our guidelines carefully, especially our publication/editorial ethics in the FAQ section and make a note of what we will not consider.
Ankit: Check the guidelines and feel free to drop a note anytime you’d like to. We are happy to help.
If you’re comfortable sharing, could you give us a rough estimate of your acceptance rate?
Tejaswinee: That’s math I’m far too lazy to do.
Ankit: That’s something we’ve never thought about. If it comes to that, we’ll have some math to do, considering the volume of submissions we (thankfully) deal with.
Could you tell us a little bit about The Hooghly Times?
Tejaswinee: This is a free monthly newsletter giving subscribers an update on whatever we’ve been up to in that month, or will be doing in the subsequent months. Ankit came up with the name for the newsletter and the idea of a couple of our favourite literary picks as reading recommendations.
Ankit: Subscribe!
Do you have any advice for fellow literary magazines trying to navigate their role in the literary scene?
Tejaswinee: We have extensively discussed this in our SQF interview last year. I’ll only add one other thing — there will be times in your life when you will not be able to prioritise your editorial role. But don’t neglect it and try not to abandon it. If you need to change your plans, if you’ve fallen behind, need a break/hiatus, please communicate with your contributors — I promise you, most people in the community are compassionate souls and they will understand. And yes, don’t lose your temper and snap at your contributors.
Ankit: You’ll be tempted to be an a**hole. Don’t be one.
With the onset of the digital era and resources like Chill Subs, there are so many literary magazines on the rise now. One could even say that the literary community is thriving. Do you have any favourite magazines?
Tejaswinee: I adore all magazines — when you run one it is clear to you how difficult it is and I have nothing but respect for every magazine on the block — but as a writer, I am partial to the ones that have no submission fees and swift response periods. I will, however, take no names.
Ankit: Knowing how demanding the job is, I respect all magazines. No names, but extra love for the editors who do worth more than their fair share and are absolute angels.
What does the near future of The Hooghly Review look like to you? Are there any exciting issues or projects in the works that you would like to share with us?
Tejaswinee: Issue 3 will be a blast. We also have exciting pieces lined up for the Weekly Features. The rest, you’ll just have to wait and watch!
Ankit: We may also do some exciting special issues if time permits. And I would like to use this space to reiterate that we love suggestions. Wee Hooghly was an idea from one of our contributors. Give us more. We’re listening.