literary magazines

Meet The Interns: Kylie Powell

Superstition Review

Kylie Powell is currently a junior at Arizona State University where she is studying Literature, Writing, and Film. She is now part of the Superstition Review team where she is in charge of the advertising. Kylie someday hopes to take her advertising and writing experience and work with companies to advertise their products.

1. What is your position with Superstition Review and what are your responsibilities?

My position with Superstition Review is Advertising Coordinator. My responsibilities include seeking out places to advertise SR, and then contacting those places to get the best deal for an ad that we can get. I also try to build partnerships with other literary magazines by also helping them to advertise with us.

2. Why did you decide to get involved with Superstition Review?

I decided to get involved with Superstition Review because I looked at it as a great opportunity to get experience in the field of both writing and advertising. It is also a helpful way to get more involved and learn the behind the scenes of how a literary magazine is put together.

3. Besides interning for Superstition Review, how do you spend your time?

Most of my time is spent working for the Campus Recreation department at ASU. I work at the gym and also with intramural sports, so between the three things it keeps my life pretty busy, but I love everything that I do.

4. What other position(s) for Superstition Review would you like to try out?

I would like to try out being a fiction editor or maybe even a blogger because it would give me more opportunities to write.

5. Describe one of your favorite literary works.

One of my favorite literary works is Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I read it for a film class and was able to compare a movie to a novel and it really showed me how different literary works can be from what someone portrays when making a movie. It was a novel that was impossible to put down and always had something exciting to grab the reader.

6. What are you currently reading?

I am currently reading a lot of travel stories. They have really sparked my interest after beginning a travel writing class and it is a whole new kind of reading and learning.

7. Creatively, what are you currently working on?

I am currently working on ideas for a fiction book. I have always wanted to write a book not to sell but more so for myself and family.

8. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

In 10 years I see myself doing some kind of writing whether it be in a magazine, newspaper, or even writing a book.

 

Meet The Interns: Madeline Beach

Superstition Review

Madeline Beach is currently completing her final semester hours to earn the designation of a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. At this time, Madeline is professionally working as a technical writer and enjoys seeing the worlds of technology and literacy work together in tandem, in both professional and academic settings. This is Madeline’s second semester with Superstition Review as she enjoys being closely involved with the ever-growing revolution of online publishing.

Superstition Review: What is your position with Superstition Review and what are your responsibilities?

Madeline Beach: Currently I hold the position of Content Coordinator. My responsibilities include receiving and tracking all submissions received as a part of our open submission period.

SR: Why did you decide to get involved with Superstition Review?

MB: I first learned about Superstition Review when I took a course led by the journal’s Managing Editor Trish Murphy. The course involved researching and studying Literary Magazines, so I felt the best next step was to become familiar with the publication process. After having interned last semester, I felt that continuing to gain experience in online publishing would prove invaluable to my future career endeavors.

SR: Besides interning for Superstition Review, how do you spend your time?

MB: Currently, I work full-time as a Project Administrator at a large financial company. After my workday ends, I rush home to begin my schoolwork. In the spare time I have, I write short essays for practice, perfecting my skills as a writer.

SR: What other position(s) for Superstition Review would you like to try out?

MB: I think it would great to gain experience in the actual web design process of online publishing.

SR: Describe one of your favorite literary works.

MB: My favorite literary work, which as written by Tammy Delatorre, is titled Gifts from my Mother. The piece is a cynical coming of age tales that describes the “gifts” a young girl receives from her mother. At night the narrator’s mother leaves her young daughter in the car while she frequents the local bar. The mother brings her daughter the parasols and olives from her drinks at the bar, which the daughter sarcastically remarks as being so thoughtful. I like the feel of the story because it is dark and poignant, telling the short story of a young girl’s experience of her mother.

SR: What are you currently reading?

MB: I have recently begun to re-read 1984, by George Orwell. A co-worker and I were discussing the film and I felt the urge to read the book again to better familiarize with the details.

SR: Creatively, what are you currently working on?

MB: I am currently finishing a piece of creative non-fiction, detailing my experience of my father’s untimely death and how I felt caring for him at a young age.

SR: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

MB: I see myself as a leader within my employer’s brand management services division, editing work that is submitted for approval, prior to publication.

Meet The Interns: Rebecca Glenn

Superstition Review

Rebecca Glenn is looking forward to the challenge of contributing to the publishing process at Superstition Review. Her experiences in upper-division class work have inspired and encouraged her to consider a career in publishing. She is thrilled to have an opportunity to experience the field first-hand through Superstition Review.

Superstition Review: What is your position with Superstition Review and what are your responsibilities?

Rebecca Glenn: I am an Art Editor and I am responsible for soliciting art submissions from local and national artists. I also make decisions on art to include in the issue and then I correspond with artists to facilitate its publication.

SR: Why did you decide to get involved with Superstition Review?

RG: I took a class on publishing in literary magazines with Trish Murphy and my interests stemmed from that experience. I have always been drawn to the publishing process, but it wasn’t until I took the class that I was educated on what exactly literary magazines are.

SR: Besides interning for Superstition Review, how do you spend your time?

RG: I’m a homebody with a traveling streak. I love to cook and goof around with my two girls. We do a lot of drawing, art projects and impromptu dance parties.

SR: What other position(s) for Superstition Review would you like to try out?

RG: Nonfiction is my passion. It would be exciting to be the nonfiction editor. I also really like the idea of being a reader.

SR: Describe one of your favorite literary works.

RG: Madelene L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time is a personal favorite. There are certain creations, like A Wrinkle in Time, that are beyond category and that is part of the appeal to me. Most would say it is a children’s novel and yet I read it again a couple weeks ago and was entranced.

SR: What are you currently reading?

RG: I like to spend summers re-reading books from my childhood. I was addicted to reading in my youth and my summer days were almost always monopolized by a book and a cool spot in the shade. Since we are just coming out of the summer months now, I most recently finished the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

SR: Creatively, what are you currently working on?

RG: I paint sporadically and also dabble in charcoal. I am constantly drawing. I just finished a charcoal portrait of my mother for her 50th birthday. It is such a momentous celebration and I spent a lot of time trying to capture the years of her life in a single expression; it was tough. As far as writing goes, most of it is academic these days due to my school schedule.

SR: Where do you see yourself in 10years?

RG: That is the big question…I’m not so concerned with knowing. I can say with all confidence I have no idea; maybe a pig farmer in Peru.

Meet the Interns: Lauren Brown, Art Editor

Superstition Review

Lauren Brown is about to graduate from the Literature, Writing, and Film program at ASU’s Polytechnic campus.

Superstition Review: What is your position with Superstition Review and what are your responsibilities?

Lauren Brown: I am one of two Art Editors for Superstition Review. My job is to review the art submitted to the magazine and choose which pieces to include in Issue 5. I also created a list of artists whose work I would like to solicit and interview questions for two artists.

SR: How did you hear about Superstition Review and what made you decide to get involved?

LB: I was a student in Professor Murphy’s beginning poetry workshop and she announced internship opportunities for Superstition Review. I had worked for my high school’s literary magazine and really enjoyed it, and I was really interested in getting a chance to work on a professional literary magazine.

SR: What are you hoping to take away from your Superstition Review experience?

LB: I hope to take away many things from Superstition Review: experience working for a professional literary magazine, learning about publishing a magazine, working in online publishing. I am looking forward to working with writers and artists and working within the writing community.

SR: Describe one of your favorite literary or artistic works.

LB: I don’t think its possible for me to pick a favorite literary work, both my parents were educators and instilled a love of books in me from a young age. I feel like for each stage of my life there is a book that goes along with it, Charlotte’s Web in kindergarten up to Pride and Prejudice my senior year of high school, and every book in between and since then. I feel the same way about art, but I will always have a special place in my heart for Monet, especially his landscapes. Monet’s work taught me so much about the use of color and all his paintings give me a feeling of peace.

SR: What are you currently reading?

LB: Currently I am reading a collection of poems by Langston Hughes, I fell in love with his work during my American Poetry class last semester, and since then I have read any work of his that I can get my hands on.

SR: What other position(s) for Superstition Review would you like to try out?

LB: If I weren’t an Art Editor, I would love to try the position of either Poetry or Nonfiction Editor. I think it would be great to read such a large variety of work from so many different authors.

SR: Do you prefer reading literary magazines online or in print?

LB: I used to feel like reading online versions of literary magazines was too difficult and hard on my eyes. However, with new technology preventing glare from the computer screen and the many different types of devices to read electronic media on, I have come to depend on online media for most of my reading. I feel the easy accessibility of the work and the ability to take many books, journals, and magazines with me on my phone, laptop, or electronic reader really makes online versions my preferred option.

SR: Do you write or create art? What are you currently working on?

LB: I enjoy both writing and creating art, and I like to combine the two whenever possible. I am currently working on a portfolio of work which includes art, poetry, and nonfiction elements. In addition, I am working on a portrait series of my nieces and nephews using photography and pastels.

SR: Besides interning for Superstition Review, how do you spend your time?

LB: I have two part time jobs outside Superstition Review, I am a Habilitation Therapist for special needs kids and a bookseller at Barnes and Noble. In my work as a Habilitation Therapist, I work to include art and writing therapy for both stress relief and to develop fine motor skills. I have worked for Barnes and Noble since I was in high school and realized if I was going to read as much as I did I need to find a way to pay for it, and what better way to pay for books than to work at a bookstore and receive a discount.

SR: What is your favorite mode of relaxation?

LB: Whenever I am not working I am usually reading. I also enjoy taking my camera and my two dogs, Louie and Ringo, on hikes around Phoenix.

Progress Update: The In-Between

Superstition Review

Right now, many Superstition Review interns are waiting for their workloads to either drastically taper off or greatly increase as we approach the transition from receiving and choosing work to publishing it. Spring break next week just about marks this transition, and it can’t come soon enough.

Our Section Editors are currently anxiously awaiting replies to their solicitations, while still doing all they can to keep up with reading open submissions. (But by all means, send them more to read! You’ve got till March 31st to submit your work.) Our Submissions Coordinator has been a rock keeping hundreds of open submissions organized behind the scenes. Interviews are well underway, now that the Section Editors have finished working with our Interview Coordinator to compose their interview questions. Our Photoshopper and Advertising Coordinator have been collaborating on, surprise, photoshopping and advertising. In Development, one Coordinator actually finished her work on formatting previous issues of Superstition Review for Kindle, and the other just completed a list of grants for which SR may be eligible. However, we are now encountering some hurdles for both grants and Kindle that may be difficult to overcome. Our Reading Series Coordinator has redirected her focus toward preparing for our reading with Franz Wright and researching potential readers for our next issue.

After spring break, you’ll be hearing a lot less about our Section Editors’ heavy workloads, and a lot more about the preparation of Superstition Review‘s website. Our Content Coordinator and Web Designers are ready to buckle down.

For at least one SR intern, the work remains steady. I’m here on the blog, as usual, introducing you to our staff and keeping you up to date on Superstition Review news and progress.

Meet the Interns: Amy Cheung, Advertising Coordinator

Superstition Review

Amy Cheung is a Creative Writing junior at ASU.

Superstition Review: What is your position with Superstition Review and what are your responsibilities?

Amy Cheung: Advertising Coordinator. I am responsible for creating and sending out email blasts regarding submissions, readings, and notifications about Issue 5 of Superstition Review. I also work to contact other magazines and advertise SR there, as well as other locations so that we can increase awareness of our magazine.

SR: How did you hear about Superstition Review and what made you decide to get involved?

AC: I took a course with Trish last semester about publishing in literary magazines. I received email blasts about Issue 4 and an email blast requesting applications for interning this semester with SR. I thought it would be a great opportunity to contribute!

SR: What are you hoping to take away from your Superstition Review experience?

AC: I hope to learn a lot from this experience of working as a small part of a really big project. I want to learn the process of getting a literary journal out, better appreciate all the hard work that goes into it, and understand the extent to which each role plays an important part. More importantly, I want to have fun this semester working with my peers on this amazing journal.

SR: Describe one of your favorite literary or artistic works.

AC: One of the best books that I’ve ever read is by Australian author Tim Winton called Cloudstreet. It’s an amazing book about real life people and real life situations. The magic realism of the book creates a fascinating world that anyone can be a part of and brings the characters and the house they live in to life. The author’s style is so beautiful and fitting for his characters. It is definitely a must read.

SR: What are you currently reading?

AC: Besides all the textbooks for my other courses at ASU, I’ve just started reading Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress.

SR: What other position(s) for Superstition Review would you like to try out?

AC: I think I would enjoy trying to do Photoshop and web design work for SR. I wouldn’t mind trying my hand at being a fiction editor, since I love reading other people’s work.

SR: Do you write or create art? What are you currently working on?

AC: I both write and create art. I’ve been revising a lot of my old stories as well as very slowly working on a book that I thought up several years ago. Art wise, although I haven’t painted in three years, I’m trying to paint again. I also like to do digital art, although it tends to be very time consuming.

SR: Besides interning for Superstition Review, how do you spend your time?

AC: Currently, I have three other classes at ASU, and I work part time for my high school in China. I’m finishing up helping coach for the basketball season. I also work as a media designer, creating advertisements, posters, pamphlets and other documents to promote the school.

SR: What is your favorite mode of relaxation?

AC: I love sitting and talking to my friends, since I have so little time to do so. I also like taking time for myself, reading, drawing, and playing video games when I need to do something mind numbing.

SR: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

AC: I hope to still be writing in 10 years, and working as a museum administrator. I love art and organizing, so I hope to make a profession of it!

Meet the Interns: Haley Coles, Poetry Editor

Superstition Review

Haley Coles is a junior English major with a Creative Writing concentration.

Superstition Review: What is your position with Superstition Review and what are your responsibilities?

Haley Coles: I am one of two poetry editors. I review submitted poetry for consideration in Superstition Review. At the beginning of the semester I created a list of 20 previously published poets from whom to solicit work from. It is my job to decide which poems, solicited and not, will be published in the journal.

SR: How did you hear about Superstition Review and what made you decide to get involved?

HC: I received an e-mail from one of the English advisors about the internship. For the past few years I have had a desire to work on a literary journal, and once the opportunity came I jumped on it!

SR: What are you hoping to take away from your Superstition Review experience?

HC: I’d like to leave SR with two new awareness. The first is, as a poet, to understand how work is selected for publication in journals so I might be more conscious about how I format my own submitted work. With the huge amount of submissions I am reading as an editor, I have more empathy for editors of larger journals and know that the rejections sent are truly not about the poet as a person. Secondly, I hope that my experience with SR will qualify me for future work in other journals. And I suppose I have a third expectation: reading a TON of poetry!!

SR: Describe one of your favorite literary or artistic works.

HC: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce has been one of the most influential works I’ve read in my literary career. I read it for a British Literature class last semester, and it completely changed my artistic life. The book helped me to make the transformation from a woman who is good at writing and enjoys doing so to living my life as a committed poet. Though I don’t have much in common with early-twentieth century Irish Stephen Daedalus, I found myself enraptured by his complex yet persistent desire to freely create and live in his art. I have been truly inspired by his journey.

SR: What are you currently reading?

HC: I just finished House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. I’m about to start on either Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke or The Plague by Albert Camus.

SR: Who would be the Superstition Review contributor of your dreams?

HC: Sylvia Plath–nobody said they had to be alive! Sylvia Plath was the first poet whose work moved me, and as a result inspired me to be a poet. In almost every poem I write there is a nod to her extraordinary language.

SR: Do you prefer reading literary magazines online or in print?

HC: I definitely prefer reading journals in print. There is something substantial and comforting about being able to hold a journal in my hands, to rest it on my chest while I lay on the couch, to circle passages that intrigue me, and to fold down pages to return to.

SR: Do you write or create art? What are you currently working on?

HC: I write poetry. I am taking a forms class, so I’m consistently writing for that class. Right now, today, I am working on reading rather than writing. I just finished a poem that exhausted me and am giving it a week or so to come back to it for a revision. So until then, I am rebuilding my aesthetic by reading submissions coming into Superstition Review and various other literary journals, particularly MAR and Rattle.

SR: Besides interning for Superstition Review, how do you spend your time?

HC: I attend ASU full time. When I’m not in class or studying (which is a huge chunk of my life), I like to cook, read, play Risk, ride bikes, and make fun of my cats.

SR: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

HC: In 10 years I will be 30. By this time I will have my MFA in Poetry and could be working on or have already received my PhD. I will be teaching either high school Literature or college Poetry. I will have a part in a vegan community-oriented restaurant cooperative. I will be gardening and writing a lot and will have at least one book of poems published. I might be in Berlin or on the East Coast.

Progress Update: It’s the End of Week 5 Already?

Superstition Review

It’s nearing the end of our fifth week with Superstition Review, and it seems we’re entering that part of the semester where time speeds up and days blend together. Here’s what we’ve been up to:

Our Solicitations Coordinator has sent out email solicitations to authors chosen by our Section Editors, and we’re already beginning to receive solicited work! Our Interview Coordinator has also sent out interview requests, and we now have almost all of our interviews set up. This means our Section Editors are especially busy at the moment: keeping up with reading both open and solicited submissions, while also preparing questions for their interviewees! Our Content team has been strong and steady behind the scenes keeping this whole process organized.

Our Advertising Coordinator has been busy building connections to advertise our submissions period (you have until March 31st to send us your work!), and is starting to work on marketing for our launch. Our Reading Series Coordinator has run into some roadblocks, but is now working to find us a reader for March. Our Development Coordinator for grants and partnerships has been researching all the details for grants we might be eligible for, while our other Development Coordinator has been breezing through formatting past issues of Superstition Review for Kindle. Lastly, we received exciting news this week that we will soon be hiring a professional web designer to solve some web issues and help out our Web Design team.

And now we’re zooming madly on to week six. Don’t forget to check back for updates!

Progress Update: Picking Up Steam

Superstition Review

We’re concluding our third week working on Issue 5 of Superstition Review, and we’re really picking up steam: open submissions are pouring in, readings are being scheduled, the website is beginning to take shape, and our interns are hitting their strides.

Our Section Editors have prepared lists of authors and artists they would like to solicit work from and/or interview. The Solicitations and Interview Coordinators have organized these lists and are preparing to work with the editors to send out the solicitations emails. Now our Art, Poetry, Fiction and Nonfiction Editors are shifting their focus toward reading and evaluating the open submissions that have been piling up in our Submissions Editor’s inbox.

Our Reading Series Coordinator set up our first reading of the semester (details soon to come!) and is now brainstorming authors and ideas for our March reading. Our Advertising Coordinator sent out email marketing for our submissions period (keep sending us your work!), and she’s now teaming up with our Photoshopper to create some ads to exchange with other magazines. Our Development Coordinators are doing important work on grants and bringing Superstition Review to Kindle (you’ll hear about it here when we’ve got that all set up!). Our Web Designers are in the process of assembling our staff and events pages. And finally, I’m here, keeping you up-to-date on everything happening with Superstition Review. Keep reading!

Meet the Interns: Carrie Grant, Blogger

Superstition Review

It’s a new semester at ASU, which means a new team of student interns is gearing up to work on Superstition Review Issue 5. We have 18 interns this semester, and you’ll be getting to know us one at a time as the weeks progress.

As the person bringing you the interviews with our interns and keeping you up-to-date on everything happening with Superstition Review, I figure I should introduce myself first. I’m Carrie Grant, a sophomore majoring in English Literature and Sociology.

Superstition Review: What is your position with Superstition Review and what are your responsibilities?

Carrie Grant: I’m the Blogger, which means I post updates on the SR staff’s progress toward publication, interviews with our interns, and other Superstition Review topics of interest to our WordPress blog, Twitter account, and Facebook fan page.

SR: How did you hear about Superstition Review and what made you decide to get involved?

CG: I heard about Superstition Review through an email listserv last semester. I had been throwing around the idea of a future in publishing for a while, and this seemed like the perfect way to get a taste of how publishing works and to better determine whether I could actually see myself working in publishing.

SR: What are you hoping to take away from your Superstition Review experience?

CG: I want to gain an understanding of how the work done by each intern contributes to the overall process of publishing a literary magazine. I also want to become more confident in my ability to work independently.

SR: Describe one of your favorite literary or artistic works.

CG: I’m in love with The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. The recent film adaptation doesn’t do this intricate science fiction/love story justice at all. Actually, I think the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button conveys the feeling of The Time Traveler’s Wife much more accurately.

SR: What are you currently reading?

CG: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which I’m enjoying so much that I can’t believe I haven’t read it before now. I started David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest at the end of winter break, and I’m trying to find time to get back to it.

SR: Who would be the Superstition Review contributor of your dreams?

CG: Margaret Atwood. She’s basically my literary idol of both poetry and fiction, and it would be amazing to be a part of publishing her work.

SR: What other position(s) for Superstition Review would you like to try out?

CG: I would like to be Content or Submissions Coordinator, or a Fiction Editor.

SR: Do you prefer reading literary magazines online or in print?

CG: Online. I don’t have much time to read for pleasure, so I like the ease with which I can take a break from, say, writing a Superstition Review blog post, and read a new poem or short story.

SR: Besides interning for Superstition Review, how do you spend your time?

CG: Day-to-day I can be found reading for classes in the Barrett study room, watching indie movies in bed or at the local indie theater, patrolling the halls of Hassayampa with my fellow Community Assistants (known as RAs basically everywhere but at ASU), and editing for the student-run Barrett Honors College magazine, The Barrett Chronicle.

SR: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

CG: I hope to be working in publishing, possibly as a literary agent or an editor. Ideally, 10 years from now I’ll be married, living in a well-decorated Manhattan apartment, and the owner of a dream library and wardrobe.