Christine Schmidt will complete her Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature, Writing & Film in December of this year, and plans to apply for graduate school to focus on liberal studies with an emphasis in creative nonfiction. She is co-founder and managing director of scribes at ASU, a creative writing club at Arizona State University, as well as a contributing writer for an online publisher. Currently, she is working on a collection of personal essays, and gaining a better working knowledge of social networking media, including blogging.
Superstition Review: What is your position with Superstition Review and what are your responsibilities?
Christine Schmidt: My position with Superstition Review is Nonfiction Editor. My responsibilities in this role are to work with my counterpart, and managing editor, to identify and solicit 20 high-profile authors to submit works of creative nonfiction, view and assess submissions, collectively decide what work should be published, correspond with authors, and gather bios and photographs.
SR: Why did you decide to get involved with Superstition Review?
CS: The reason I became involved with Superstition Review was for hands-on experience in a publishing capacity. Because my future career goals revolve around writing, publishing, and editing, this seemed the ideal internship.
SR: Besides interning for Superstition Review, how do you spend your time?
CS: I spend my time juggling 15 credits, a freelance writing job, and I’m hoping to get involved this semester with the Writing Center on the Polytechnic Campus where I’d like to tutor other students with their writing.
SR: What other position(s) for Superstition Review would you like to try out?
CS: If I were to be offered a third internship on SR (last semester I interned as Interview Coordinator), another position I’d love to try out would be blogger. This summer, I created a simple blog and have been learning how to stick to a regular schedule of writing and posting, as well as adding widgets and other features to dress up the pages.
SR: Describe one of your favorite literary works.
CS: One of my favorite literary works is a novel I recently read by Joyce Maynard entitled Labor Day, a fictional piece about a mother and son who are profoundly changed when a strange man appears in their lives. Her ability to flesh out her characters until the reader feels a part of the story is one of the qualities that keeps me coming back for more of her work.
SR: What are you currently reading?
CS: Currently, I am reading Joyce Maynard’s Internal Combustion, a nonfiction account of a dysfunctional family in Detroit and a terrible tragedy that ensues.
SR: Creatively, what are you currently working on?
CS: Creatively, I’m currently working on a collection of essays revolving around growing up with non-traditional (i.e., older) parents, as well as essays that further explore how these earlier life experiences have colored my role as an adult, including the mother-daughter relationship that has been passed down to my own family and is evolving into a unique–and sometimes crazy, sometimes lovely–dynamic.
SR: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
In 10 years, I see myself enjoying the fruit of my education and passion for the art of the written word by writing, as well as working in some type of publishing/editing capacity.