Mai-Quyen Nguyen is a junior at Arizona State University, majoring in English with a concentration in Fiction and pursuing a certificate in Technical Communication. She is a Fiction Editor for Superstition Review, which is her first role at the online literary magazine. Not only is she seeking to gain experience with the editing and publishing industry, but she is also hoping to develop relationships and build networks.
Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area in California, she moved to Arizona to study nursing. However, her career plan changed when she fully realized her passion to write and edit. Language and words are multifaceted; people communicate through both spoken and written words and she wishes to affect the lives of others through her own.
What Mai-Quyen finds fascinating about writing is the bond it creates between the writer and the reader. Regardless of how deeply literature is read, people take away different meanings. Writing searches for the truth, a concept that humans sometimes find difficult, and Mai-Quyen seeks to find who she is through literature.
One story that has changed her life is “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison. She enjoys not only the works of contemporary authors such as Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, Stuart Dybek, Jim Shephard, and John Irving, but also those of John Green and Ernest Hemingway. Inspired by Hemingway, Mai-Quyen is interested in exploring his theory of omission, or the Iceberg Theory, in her works.
Aside from writing fiction, Mai-Quyen likes to compose lyrics and on occasion, poetry. She grew up as a performer: she sang in her elementary school and high school choir, swing danced in elementary and middle school, acted during middle school, and took piano lessons for seven years. Although she is no longer committed to those activities, she continues to play the piano in her spare time.
After graduating from ASU, Mai-Quyen plans to apply to Columbia University to earn an MFA in Fiction. She aspires to become a book editor and a literary fiction author. She dreams to have her work published and read across the world, evoking a positive response on her audience who will gain valuable lessons from her stories.
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Hi Mai-Quyen! I too started out my college experience in the sciences (I was planning on going to Veterinary school). However, like you I realized I had a much greater passion for writing. It’s good to know I’m not the only one who took a college detour before finding my major. 🙂
How interesting! I bet that happens to a lot of college students. What inspired the change in career path, Brooke?
Hi, Brooke! I’ll admit that it was a drastic change for me because I had set on becoming a nurse since middle school! But, I’m happy with where I am now! I hope you are also! (:
I always think of William Carlos Williams whenever I think of doctors-turned-poets. Maybe that’ll be you, Mai-Quyen! 🙂
Ah, Toni Morrison! Jim Shepard! Also favorites of mine. Sometimes I wish I had explored more non-literary majors before choosing Creative Writing. I feel like perhaps I missed out on some interesting material, even though I’m also not very science-minded.
Colleen,
You could still definitely take some elective classes to discover your other interests! (:
Mai-Quyen is right, Colleen. It’s never too late! 🙂