Meet Our Fall 2025 Interns!

If you’ve ever met one of our wonderful F(r)iction staffers, you’ll quickly learn that almost every one of them was once an intern in our Publishing Internship Program.

This program is run by our parent nonprofit organization, Brink Literacy Project. While our publishing internships are a great way to get a crash course in the literary industry, they can often provide a path to what can become a long and rewarding professional relationship. For more information, please visit the internship page on the Brink website.

Franchesca Nicole Lazaro

she/her

What is your favorite place to read?  

My room, either on my bed or at my desk! I get distracted easily by outside noises, so I need the quiet of my room, sometimes with music in the background, to really focus. I like the smell and ambiance of cafes and libraries, but their seats are usually too hard to sit on, and it gets a bit rowdy sometimes!

You’re walking down the street and suddenly spot a key on the ground! What does it look like? What do you do with it?  

It would look like the skeleton key from Coraline. With it, you could draw any door on a wall, unlock it, and step into another place entirely, kind of like from Beetlejuice!

How do you take your coffee? If you don’t drink coffee, describe your favorite beverage ritual.   

I don’t drink much coffee, but I love hot cocoa!!! I usually make it with Swiss Miss packets or K-Cups. My one struggle is that the marshmallows always shrink in the water… I haven’t figured out how to keep them big.

What is your favorite English word and why? Do you have a favorite word in another language?  

For a long time, my favorite word has been shenanigans because it sounds funny and a little foreign. Lately, I’ve been attached to tomfoolery because it feels old-fashioned, almost Western, and charming. It also reminds me of my favorite character, Tom Sawyer! In another language, I like the German word for university, Universität, and the German pronunciation of the name Michael.

You’re on a deserted island. You have one album and one book. What are they and why?   

I’d bring Memento Mori by Flyleaf, because it’s the album I return to most often, and The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston, which is such an inspiring way of bringing collages and narrative together. I love reading books about girls who study or try to make it big!

If you could change one thing about the literary industry, what would it be?  

I’d like to see more space for women to write about religious experience—especially when it’s not about leaving or rejecting faith. Religion shapes girlhood for many people, yet it’s often overlooked or dismissed as preaching. I think those stories should be taken more seriously in literature because they definitely had a hold on classics, but it seems like nowadays, they’re seen as taboo. Isn’t the whole purpose of writing to see what you want to read?

Melissa Chew

she/her

What is your favorite place to read?   

Definitely sitting on my bed at night with the warm light of the lamp! It’s very cozy. 

You’re walking down the street and suddenly spot a key on the ground! What does it look like? What do you do with it?  

I see a small metal key with simple biting, attached to a split ring. It looks like those keys you get when a relative gifts you your first diary with a lock on it. Those keys always go missing, no matter where you put them. Some kid probably dropped it, so I end up leaving it alone. I shouldn’t interfere with its fate. Perhaps it’ll find its owner, just maybe not today. 

How do you take your coffee? If you don’t drink coffee, describe your favorite beverage ritual.  

As the average tea enjoyer, I get a sachet of jasmine green tea in a mug and fill it with boiling water. No sugar. No milk. Sometimes, simple is best.   

What is your favorite English word and why? Do you have a favorite word in another language?   

I used to have a few favorite words in the past, like “iridescent” and “nostalgia,” because they sounded so mysterious. Nowadays, I lean towards “miasma” and “rot.” I can’t explain why, but I’m drawn to very visceral words. I don’t think I have a favorite word from another language. 

You’re on a deserted island. You have one album and one book. What are they and why?   

The album would be jshlatt’s Christmas album,  A Very 1999 Christmas, because I love festive songs from Frank Sinatra’s era, and jshlatt’s voice just scratches that itch. The book would probably be  Demian: The Story of Youth by Hermann Hesse. It’s an endearing story that’s good for both leisure and making me contemplate too much about life (gets the brain working, you see). 

If you could change one thing about the literary industry, what would it be?  

Better industry practices, increased wages for entry-level roles to senior roles, and combating crunch culture. I know it’s three things, but I think they all interconnect with one another. The industry has a long way to go regarding how little workers are rewarded for their immense efforts. I believe we shouldn’t settle for low wages because it’s a competitive industry or because we’re passionate about what we do. It’s time the industry changed the way it thinks about itself and the people who put everything into their craft.  

Mika Ellison

she/her

What is your favorite place to read?   

I love reading in airports, because absolutely nothing is expected of you, and you usually have ridiculous amounts of time if you are anxious about missing your flight like I am.

You’re walking down the street and suddenly spot a key on the ground! What does it look like? What do you do with it?  

It’s a friendly looking key, bright gold, a little scuffed. It calls to me, somehow—it feels familiar. It’s not until I get back home I realize that it’s my key, to my own front door, and I hadn’t even realized I dropped it on my way to work.

How do you take your coffee? If you don’t drink coffee, describe your favorite beverage ritual.   

I have a weakness for Earl Grey tea with a criminal amount of sugar and milk, which I make with absolutely boiling hot water and then burn my tongue, every single time.

What is your favorite English word and why? Do you have a favorite word in another language? 

I love “ostensibly,” because it’s a great way to say you heard something from someone and you’re pretty sure it’s true, but leave a little bit of room to be horribly wrong. Plus, it sounds fancy.

You’re on a deserted island. You have one album and one book. What are they and why?   

It’s Julien Baker’s Turn Out The Lights and George Eliot’s Middlemarch, the first because any album that almost singlehandedly gets you through middle school should be in a Hall of Fame somewhere, and the second because god knows I could probably only read it a couple more times before getting rescued or perishing.

If you could change one thing about the literary industry, what would it be?

I would make it more accessible! There are so many people that don’t have the resources or time or energy to spend breaking into the industry, but have ideas that would revolutionize it.

Olivia Ocran

she/her

What is your favorite place to read?   

My favorite place to read is anywhere with a lot of natural light and a comfortable place to lie down. This environment is extremely calming, which helps me get in the mindset for reading. 

You’re walking down the street and suddenly spot a key on the ground! What does it look like? What do you do with it?  

Mine is a rusted silver key, because I live in D.C., so this is the usual type of key people have. This key, however, has a half-covered engraving in Latin on the back. As I wipe away the dirt, a stone-lined pathway leading away from the sidewalk reveals itself to me—the stones covered with matching Latin phrases. I follow the path until I reach an old, wooden trapdoor hidden in the grass with a single iron keyhole. I use the key to open the door and climb down into a forgotten passageway. I’ve discovered a secret archive right underneath the D.C. streets! 

How do you take your coffee? If you don’t drink coffee, describe your favorite beverage ritual.    

My coffee taste changes depending on the day, but my go-to is a latte (double shot) with cinnamon and vanilla syrup, topped with cold foam. Also, fun fact, I actually make some of my own coffee syrups. 

What is your favorite English word and why? Do you have a favorite word in another language?   

My favorite word is flabbergasted. There’s no real reason why I like this one, but I love the way it rolls of the tongue and it’s just a fun word to use. 

You’re on a deserted island. You have one album and one book. What are they and why?   

The album I would bring is Laufey’s new album A Matter of Time because it checks all the boxes for me as someone who has been a musician for most of my life. You can tell she writes music because she truly loves it, simply from the composition, and her lyrics are absolutely beautiful. The book I would bring (even though this is an impossible question) is Babel by R. F. Kuang because Kuang is the type of writer where you’re going to notice something different every time you read. She is an academic, and this background gives her the ability to include so much background and context for her novels that it’s impossible to find all of it on the first read through. So, if I’m on a deserted island, this book would give me more than enough material to keep me entertained. 

If you could change one thing about the literary industry, what would it be? 

I would change the accessibility of the industry. There are so many incredible writers or literary enthusiasts who get left behind because they don’t have the right connections or they come from an unrepresented community. There’s a large emphasis on working with the Big 5 publishers or one of their imprints, but I feel that makes the industry more exclusive than it needs to be. Bring back the smaller presses scattered across the country, and more mid-sized publishers for people to flock to without the stigma surrounding any literary company outside of the Big 5. 

Taylor Pittman

she/her

What is your favorite place to read?   

I love to read cozy in bed or sitting in my book nook in my home office. 

You’re walking down the street and suddenly spot a key on the ground! What does it look like? What do you do with it?  

I’m walking down the street, most likely on the way to the dog park with my chihuahua, Goliath, and I see a key buried in the grass. It is a cerulean blue and catches the sunlight as we walk by. It’s a long, old-fashioned key, but it looks shiny, almost glittering, with intricate swirling designs across the handle. I pick it up, and a shimmering dust falls from it. I pocket it, of course, as Goliath impatiently tugs on his leash. 

How do you take your coffee? If you don’t drink coffee, describe your favorite beverage ritual.  

I take my coffee black with three tablespoons of sugar. 

What is your favorite English word and why? Do you have a favorite word in another language?   

My favorite English word is cosmic because it makes me think of space, bright colors, ethereal, and otherworldly things. 

You’re on a deserted island. You have one album and one book. What are they and why?   

The album is EPIC: The Musical by Jorge Rivera-Herrans. It is my absolute favorite musical, and it tells the story of Odysseus, who is also deserted on an island. Seems fitting. The book would have to be HEY, U UP? (For a Serious Relationship) by Emily Axford and Brian Murphy because they are part of my favorite comedy podcast, and it would be the closest I could get to them. 

If you could change one thing about the literary industry, what would it be?  

The one thing I would change about the literary industry is to make it more inclusive. There have been significant strides, but certain communities still have limited access to literary works and programs. Having more remote literary businesses and publishing presses, or expanding further beyond the East Coast, would make it more accessible to others.