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The Harvard Extension School’s Brattle Street Review — a student-run bi-monthly publication of creative writing, nonfiction, and visual artwork — published its seventh issue Saturday, providing a network for HES students hoping to break through a “paper ceiling” in the literary field.

In March 2023, then-HES student Arthur L. Foster co-founded the BSR in “an effort to help other students, to give a network of creative writing and literature students a place to go.”

Before the BSR existed, “you were pretty much on your own to go out and look for a journal or a magazine or some kind of website that fit your genre of writing to publish,” according to Foster, who added that the Charles River Review — a similar publication active in the early 2000s— was partly an inspiration for the BSR.

While the publication is open to all Harvard University students and alumni, its published authors primarily consist of HES students. “We’re pretty well known within the Extension School, especially within the creative writing community,” Foster said.

According to HES student Nathalie V. Zender, the BSR has reduced hurdles of the publication process for aspiring creative writers, many of whom have other careers and have trouble breaking into the industry.

Zender, who serves as the president of the HES Creative Writing and Literature Student Society, an organization with close ties to the BSR, said the publication was “born from the idea that we would love to have a place for Harvard Extension School writers to be able to publish their first works.”

“Publishing your first anything is really scary, so it’s kind of a welcoming first place that you can get published,” she said.

Ryan I. Vergara, an HES student and vice president of the CWLSS, added that having an outlet like the BSR is essential for students hoping to enter the creative writing profession.

“In the writing industry, there’s something of a paper ceiling,” Vergara said.

“You could have all the ALM or MFA credentials in the world, but if you don’t have any publication history,” he added, “it’s very difficult to get any job or any kind of writing commission.”

According to Vergara, the BSR is invaluable as a critical extra piece on the resume of aspiring HES writers.

Since its founding, the BSR has published seven issues, each typically containing five to seven pieces. Vergara said that the group is “actively trying to recruit” more submissions, especially in photography and the visual arts.

Vergara and Zender said that when a piece is submitted to the BSR, it is reviewed by a board of five readers who each assign it a grade.

While some submissions are not accepted, the writers are encouraged to resubmit their work in the future. Zender said that the editorial staff “encourage them to keep learning and keep applying, “because we do want to have good quality out there, but we also don’t want to shut the door on anyone.”

Zender said that one of the most exciting parts of the BSR is not getting published, but seeing friends’ work published.

“It’s really cool to be able to see all of these familiar faces listed on there,” she said. “You get to cheer each other on and it’s on there forever, so it’s just part of the community lending out a hand.”

Foster also said he found it rewarding to facilitate the publication process for his fellow students.

“Every time I send out the acceptance letter for a piece, I always from almost everyone get back the most heartfelt reply: ‘thank you so much,’ ‘it’s been such a hard road,’ ‘thank you for what you’re doing,’” he said.

—Staff writer Evan H.C. Epstein can be reached at evan.epstein@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X at @Evan_HC_Epstein.

—Staff writer Jackson M. Deutch can be reached at jackson.deutch@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X at @DeutchJackson.