Meet Our Fall 2020 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.

Aoife Lynch 

What is your favorite place to read?  

I love to read outside in the city, especially when it’s chilly. I bundle up in a big coat and scarf and sit outside on a park bench for as long as I can bear, usually with a flask of tea. Reading outside, anything can happen. A bird might arrive and want some of my lunch, or some kid might race past and jump into a pile of leaves, or I might catch a few minutes of rare sunshine on a gray day. All my best conversations with strangers happen during my bench reading time—talking to a gardener about the Virginia Woolf books we’ve read and the ones we’ve given up on, or chatting to a tourist about the best bookshops in the city. I love it all, especially the occasional curious look, and the inevitable “is it any good?” that follows. 

You’re walking up the side of a mountain along a winding, wooded path. You look to your left and discover, by chance, a door in the side of the mountain. Do you open it, and if so, where does it lead? 

How could anyone resist opening a mysterious door in the side of a mountain? When I open the door, there’s a passageway cut deep into the stone. Naturally I’m curious, so I take a couple of steps inside. It’s dark, and pleasantly cool, and it smells earthy in a nice way.  

The door closes behind me. I’m left in total darkness. I’m momentarily terrified—I hate the dark. But the door is right behind me, and I’ve only walked in a couple of steps, so I turn around and push it open. Simple as that, I’m back on the mountain path—a little shaken, and a little dazzled by the sudden sunlight, but no harm done. 

It’s only when I’ve been home for a few hours that I realize something has changed. Things in this world are different. Strange. Mysterious. Unnatural . . . And I love it! Cups of tea don’t go cold no matter how long you leave them, and tea from the teapot is never too weak. I’ve entered paradise, probably. 

Also, there are no odd socks. 

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

I don’t drink coffee, but I love tea. My favorite beverage ritual is sharing a pot of tea with people I love. Always Irish Breakfast tea, loose leaf if there’s any in the house. The best kind is tea on a Saturday or Sunday morning at breakfast time. I take down the nicest mugs from the cupboard. We make the pot of tea (heat the pot first, then four spoons of loose leaf, then the water, and then the tea cozy to keep it warm), we wait for it to draw, and as soon as it’s finished, we make another pot. 

What is your favorite English word and why? Do you have a favorite word in another language? 
  
My favorite English word is murmuration, meaning a flock of starlings. I like it because it’s a rare word, and because it feels nice in my mouth, and because “flock of starlings” doesn’t do justice to the strangeness of watching a murmuration making waves and patterns across the sky when the light is fading in the evening (they usually happen right before dusk). It’s a wonderful word too because murmurations are so visually spectacular, but they also have a strange auditory dimension. It’s a rushing, ebbing sound of lots of wings and birdsong, a sort of fluctuating murmuring. 

I also love the phrase “ruaille buaille”, which is an Irish phrase that’s been adopted into the English that’s spoken in Ireland. It means, a fun sort of commotion. 

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

I’m choosing Have One on Me by Joanna Newsom as my album. It’s got sad songs and strange songs and songs to dance to, and it’s two hours long which is a definite plus if I’m indefinitely stranded on a deserted island. She’s also a wonderful lyricist, so it would almost be like having a second book with me.  

For my book, I’m tentatively choosing Paul Muldoon’s Selected Poems. I’ll need something that’ll keep me occupied, and I find his poetry equally frustrating and rewarding. There are short poems and long poems which will give me a bit of variety depending what I’m in the mood for, and his poetry is great to read aloud. It’s also playful, and I think I’ll need some levity settling into my island existence! 

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

The shallowness of many of the efforts to build a more diverse industry. It’s not enough to hire BIPOC in entry-level roles. Especially within the major publishing houses, it’s an industry internally dominated by a white middle class, which caters for a white middle class readership. Grand statements about the need for more diversity and the power of literature to build bridges and enable compassion mean nothing without proactive, anti-racist, systematic change at all levels of the industry. A literary industry that remains built around white middle class tastes can never hope to be truly diverse. 

Cassandra Perez

What is your favorite place to read?   

In a comfy chair next to a large window, optimally when it’s raining (which happens very often in Florida).  

You’re walking up the side of a mountain along a winding, wooded path. You look to your left and discover, by chance, a door in the side of the mountain. Do you open it, and if so, where does it lead? 

I absolutely open the door because I distrust winding, wooded paths on principle. It leads to somewhere flat and open, like the beach. And wow! There’s already a lounge chair, umbrella, and book laid out for me.  

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

Typically cold, sometimes hot, always Cuban. I take it with honey, cinnamon, and some sort of non-dairy creamer (my go-to is Silk’s Original Soy Creamer).  

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

My favorite English word is ergo because it sounds funny and has the ability to elevate the tone of a sentence with minimal effort—a lot of power for such a small word when you think about it. My favorite word (technically, phrase) in Spanish is ¡Ay bendito! because it’s multifaceted; you can use it to express happiness, sadness, or (my personal favorite) annoyance just by the tone you say it with.   

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

The Essential Dolly Parton (which is probably cheating) because I can’t imagine a world without Dolly Parton, and The Count of Monte Cristo because it’s my mom’s favorite book and I never understood why. I’ll definitely have time to figure it out.  

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

Positive steps have been made recently, but I’d like to see a sustained effort to diversify the people who make up the literary industry, which in turn paves the way for more books about and by members of marginalized communities to reach our bookshelves.  

Miki Schumacher

What is your favorite place to read?    

I love reading in bed, especially with the lazy afternoon sun filtering through the blinds. I usually put in some earbuds to muffle any outside noise because I get distracted by sounds easily. There are so many piles around my room of books I’ve started but have yet to finish. It’s the perfect environment for both reading and napping—two things that I think go hand in hand!   

You’re walking up the side of a mountain along a winding, wooded path. You look to your left and discover, by chance, a door in the side of the mountain. Do you open it, and if so, where does it lead?  

This would be so exciting! The mountain path is quite mossy, and the door is almost imperceptible. The only indication that it could be a door is the white mushroom handle. I carefully twist the handle and push, only to realize that it’s actually a pull door. After my second try, I wipe the moisture off on my pants and enter into a dark cavern. My eyes slowly adjust to the darkness, and I feel something small bump into my leg. Then, I feel something else jump onto my shoulder. I turn my head and discover a frog sitting there with a tiny hat. It jumps off as I yell in surprise, and I take a closer look at the ground. The cave has thousands of frogs! I back away slowly and close the door, giving them their privacy. Little do I know that another has hitched a ride on the side of my pants . . .  

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

I’m not a fan of coffee, but I drink tea with almost every meal! One of my favorite drinks is mixing half a cup of cold oolong tea with half a cup of coconut milk. This usually helps get me through my afternoon slump. 

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

My favorite English word right now is ephemeral. I love how the consonant sounds are broken up in this word; it feels like the vowels are drawn out and the word can be sustained. This seems a bit ironic, considering the word is used to describe things that last for only a short time.  

My favorite word in Japanese is 木漏れ日, or komorebi. This refers to how the sunlight shines through the leaves of a tree and speckles the ground with light. I think about it when I’m out for a walk through the forest and see the small circles of light dancing on the ground as the leaves sway in the wind. It’s a very peaceful feeling for me to think of this word, and I’m reminded of good memories and left with a sense of nostalgia. 

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

This is such a hard question! For the album, I’d have to choose Mitski’s Bury Me at Makeout Creek purely for the song “First Love / Late Spring.” I could listen to this on repeat forever. This album pulls on so many different emotions for me, and her lyrics feel like the best kind of punch. 

For my book, I would have a copy of Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. I recently finished this novel, and I find myself going back over and over again to different sections. This book keeps calling back to me, and I love discovering something new each time I read! I highly recommend this book if you’re interested in fractured narratives. 

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

For the literary industry to truly serve its audience, the institution of publishing needs to be able to support editors with diverse backgrounds. Publishing continues to fail to represent what society looks like—this is especially true with children’s literature. If I could change anything, I would create more opportunities for people to write their stories, and I would make the editing world more accessible as well.  

Amber Sullivan

What is your favorite place to read?   

My favorite place to read is outside in a comfortable deck chair during crisp hours—early morning, late night—with a nearby table to hold my tea.  

You’re walking up the side of a mountain along a winding, wooded path. You look to your left and discover, by chance, a door in the side of the mountain. Do you open it, and if so, where does it lead? 

Before I open it, I roll an insight check to look for runes or other markings, like maybe claw marks. I’m opening the door regardless; I just like to check for clues. 

Behind the door is a staircase that leads down, deep beneath the mountain. Two torches light the entrance, but the path descend far beyond their reach. The air is damp and warmer than I expected. Something rumbles from the depths. The torches cannot be removed from their posts, so I continue down into darkness.  

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

I drink my coffee black, but I’m really a tea person. I love a good pu’er, but I always end up steeping the tea too long because I forget about it while interneting in the morning.  

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

Instead of my favorite word, I want to share my favorite quote about words: 

“Change. Change. Change. Change… Change. Change. Chaaaange. When you say words a lot, they don’t mean anything. Or maybe they don’t mean anything anyway, and we just think they do.” 

– Delirium of The Endless, The Sandman  

But If I had to pick a word, it would be whangdoodle because it’s really great. 

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

As delightful as a deserted island sounds right now, I’m assuming I didn’t plan for this to happen. 

Book: The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin. Why? Because it’s the book I’m currently reading, and I forgot to bring my Forager’s Harvest on this doomed vacation.  

Album: Rhythm of Youth by Men Without Hats. Why? So that I can tell which strangers are safe because if they don’t dance, well, they’re no friends of mine.  

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

That the medium of comix is not analyzed or appreciated from a literary standpoint. Graphic novels and comics are becoming more valued but are still largely marketed to children or niche fan bases. I think incorporating comix into school curricula at all reading levels is an excellent way to bring the literary value of comix forward.  

Carissa Villagomez

What is your favorite place to read?   

I like to read anywhere that is quiet and isolated, which often means I read in my room late at night. I love to immerse myself in a book, so the experience is always better when I have the adequate time to really savor what I am reading. 

You’re walking up the side of a mountain along a winding, wooded path. You look to your left and discover, by chance, a door in the side of the mountain. Do you open it, and if so, where does it lead? 

I open the door! Excitement, challenges, new worlds all await, and I am not letting my chance to indulge in my own transformative bookish adventure get away from me. I approach the door, my mind buzzing with all the possibilities. Door in the side of a mountain automatically makes me think of dwarven kingdoms made up of spiraling stone and fantastical caverns where beasts with hearts of gold lie in wait. I grip the carved wooden handle, blood abuzz with opportunity as the world shifts beneath my feet. I take a deep breath and open the door to be greeted by the sight of infinite darkness. I frown and lean slightly forward. The darkness bends for a moment and then golden light particles snap into existence, multiplying and racing outward to coalesce into four dazzling pathways of stars. Each road extends out into the darkness and leads to a window. The first window to the left peers into a world densely populated by verdant green trees. Elaborate houses are built into their branches and families of hybrid humanoid bird creatures bustle about inside warmly light rooms. A creature that looks like a mix between an elk and a zebra quietly munches on grass and gives me a look as if to say, “What are you waiting for?” The second window looks out into a cloudy sky where a clan of navy eyed figures ride lightning strikes to deliver medical supplies to airships. One of the figures looks up at me and quirks an eyebrow. In the third window, I stare into the back of my own head as I watch myself authoritatively gesticulate to a person made of smoke. A tendril of vapor forms into a hand that waves me forward. In the fourth window lies a world made of fractured glass that hums, each shard holding an alternative reality for all the choices I have made. I briefly look over my shoulder back to the mountain path, then face forward once again. I smile and leap into the dark. 

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

I don’t drink coffee or have any particularly interesting liquid ritual. I’m quite content drinking a nice glass of water while I ponder my severe lack of beverage ingenuity. 

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

It’s difficult to think of just one word as my favorite. Perhaps encapsulate because it always has my back when I need a word that really captures everything and nothing at the same time. Solivagant holds a special place in my heart as well, as wandering alone is compatible with my consuming introspection but, more importantly, it also suggests a freedom and quiet self-assuredness I yearn for.  

As for other languages, I would have to say either the lovely cognate interactuar in Spanish because using it has made me sound more competent in certain situations or the Yaghan word mamihlapinatapai because it perfectly encapsulates (ha!) an interesting moment of nonverbal communication.  

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

If I knew that there was a possibility of me being alone on a deserted island before embarking on the journey that landed me there, then I would prepare by carefully combining all the pages from favorite and currently unread-but-owned books into one giant, spiral bound volume. I know that’s skirting the question, but it’s an impossible one to answer. I’ll concede at least one title that I would include in said creation, which would have to be . . . The Last Uncharted Sky by Curtis Craddock because it is so fantastical that I would surely forget about being on the island in the first place.   

The album would be Where I Go When I Am Sleeping by Casey because listening to it while completely deserted would allow me to more thoroughly reflect from all the anxiety induced by the machinations and troubles of society. Prompted by the band’s unique lyrics and my detached surroundings, I would reconsider all the experiences I have never had, the nature of self-perception, and all the overlooked nuances of human interaction with a different perspective. 

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

The literary industry has multiple areas in which it needs to be improved. If I could change it, I would make it more responsive to change and more active in challenging its past traditions of exclusivity. Publishing often seems as if it is one step behind the flow of events as major companies are often slow to respond. Literature not only responds but can also anticipate and initiate new actions/discussions to get them into more mainstream consciousness. I would want to make the entire industry more energized, empathetic, and respectful of all voices. This vision also includes addressing the often-overlooked aspect of mental health in the industry, so that those in the industry are more active in publishing more nuanced portrayals of mental health.