PROFESSOR BALACHANDRAN PUBLISHES ESSAY IN PRESTIGIOUS LITERARY JOURNAL
June 2025—Professor Gopal Balachandran published a creative nonfiction essay—"The Trials of Subu Vedam"—in the New England Review. Widely considered among the top literary journals in the country, the New England Review has published works that have gone on to win awards and been anthologized in publications like the Best American series. Writers like Ocean Vuong, Louise Erdrich, and Natasha Trethewey were published in the magazine before receiving international recognition.
Balachandran's essay centers around both his personal journey and the clinic's efforts to exonerate Subu Vedam. Subu was convicted of murder in 1983 in Centre County, and when that conviction was reversed, convicted again in 1988. Subu has long maintained his innocence in this purely circumstantial and high-profile case. With recent access to files in the Centre County District Attorney's Office, Balachandran and his students discovered information that establishes Subu's innocence and exhibits how unfair his trial was with information withheld from his attorneys.
Published four times a year, New England Review has a mission to "publish the most provoking and rewarding writing of our time from established and emerging writers across the globe." The New England Review attempts to give readers a "vital snapshot of the literary moment ... in all its richness, complexity, and diversity."
Associate Professor of Clinical Law and Director of the Criminal Appellate & Post-Conviction Services Clinic Gopal Balachandran directs the Externships Program as well as the Criminal Appellate & Post-Conviction Services Clinic. In his role as the Director of the Externships Program, he oversees students’ employment with legal services and governmental organizations, including externships with judges. In his role as director of the Criminal Appellate & Post-Conviction Services Clinic, Professor Balachandran has supervised students in the writing and filing of briefs in the Pennsylvania Superior and Supreme Courts.