Hey Asterisks! Join us as we explore Asterlit’s 2024 summer internship program.

Our host, Judy Khaled, a podcast team member and Associate Editor at Asterlit, is joined by three incredible guests: Celina Simone, our Editor-in-Chief; Angie, an Associate Editor and Events Team Member; and Naomi Ferraro, a Managing Editor and Social Media Team Member. Together, they’ll share their inspiring journeys from interns to key team members at Asterlit, offering valuable insights and personal stories along the way.

Whether you’re curious about internships or looking for inspiration, this episode is full of warmth and wisdom!

notable moments:

00:00 – Welcome & Introductions

01:00 – Celina Simone on Initiating the Internship Program

05:00 – Angie & Naomi: How They Discovered Asterlit

10:00 – Growth of Interns: Celina’s Perspective

15:00 – Challenges Faced by Interns: Angie & Naomi’s Stories

20:00 – Feedback & Support from Mentors

25:00 – Celina Reflects on Internship Success & Advice for the Future

30:00 – Angie & Naomi: Final Thoughts and Advice for Future Interns

35:00 – Closing Remarks & Exciting Announcements

Links:

Transcript

We’re joined by our host: Zara Siddiqui, the Podcast Director and Managing editor at Aster, as well as two fantastic guests: Emma Zhang, our Editor-in-Chief; and Judy Khaled, an Associate Editor and podcast team member. They’ll share their unique journeys from interns to key team members at AsterLit, offering invaluable insights and personal experiences along the way.

Whether you’re curious about internships or looking for inspiration, this episode is packed with warmth and wisdom!

notable moments:

00:25 - Introduction

00:45 - Introducing EIC Emma Zhang

02:39 - Discussing the Internship’s creation

10:00 - Intern Selection process

15:16 - Introducing AE and Podcast Team member Judy Khaled

16:03 - Emma’s founding experience for Asterlit

18:21 - Getting to know how the other EICs got involved with Aster

20:36 - Emma questions the former interns (Zara and Judy)

25:57 - Discussing Editorial Reflection Essays

30:22 - Advice for Future Interns

35:09 - End Statements

36:34 - Conclusion

Links:

Transcript

Our summer interns are back with another episode of Ad Aster! Join Aster Lit interns Judy, Angie, and Nabeeha for a deep dive into all things writing routines—the famous, the personal, the pros and the cons. Like our last episode, this episode was produced from start to finish by our summer interns. Thank you to our hosts for their hard work, to Joyce for the episode transcript, to Elizabeth for editing, and to Naomi for providing timestamps and quotes.

notable moments:

0:00 - Introduction 

0:35 - Finderscope check-in

2:11 - What is a writing routine?

2:42 - Nabeeha, Angie and Judy share their writing routines

5:15  - The hosts compare their writing habits to Jane Austen, Maya Angelou, Charles Dickens, and Haruki Murakami

9:46 - Discussion of how writing routines differ between professional and amateur writers

11:48 - Do writing routines differ based on the genre?

19:45 - Discussion of the hosts’ preferred medium for writing

20:37 - How being in jail affected a writer’s work

22:10 - Writing routines and wellness

27:56 - How can we avoid the negative effects of writing on health?

31:38 - The hosts’ writing and reading quirks

37:23 - Conclusion 

Links

Episode Transcript

Reddit post about the writer in jail

The most unusual writing rituals of famous authors 

The Daily Routines of Great Writers – The Marginalian

Psychological Benefits of Routines 

Welcome to our first-ever summer intern edition of Ad Aster! Join Aster Lit interns Judy, Angie, and Zara for an eye-opening and laughter-filled episode on some of our favorite children’s stories (and their darker histories). Learn about Disney favorites and classic tales as we celebrate the stories that have inspired us since childhood.

This episode was produced from start to finish by our first group of summer interns. Thanks to our hosts for their hard work, as well as to Jane for the episode transcript, Judy for editing, and Zara for highlighting timestamps and quotes.

notable moments:

0:12 - Introduction: Meet Angie, Judy, and Zara!

0:40 - Finderscope check-in.

3:19 - Insight on The Brothers Grimm.

4:19 - Discussing Tangled’s origin.

5:58 - Insight on Hans Christian Andersen.

6:21 - Hans Christian Andersen’s popular works.

8:55 - Zara explains the original Tangled (i.e. Rapunzel) story, which the Grimm brothers collected.

18:22 - Judy and Angie discuss the differences between the original Rapunzel and the adapted Disney version.

22:21 - Discussing Beauty and the Beast.

34:28 - Angie discusses Jane Eyre.

36:31 - Judy discusses Lost in a Book by Jennifer Donnelly.

37:30 - Judy, Angie, and Zara talk about taking inspiration from other books and writing their materials through these inspirations.

37:55 - Angie and Zara talk about Greek mythology and books (e.g. Percy Jackson).

40:48 - Judy and Angie talk about story variations and dive deeper into the symbolism in Jane Eyre.

43:34 - Judy asks a question for the listeners!

43:58 - Zara gives a short episode summary.

44:39 - Outro

⁠Information on The Brothers Grimm⁠

⁠Information on Hans Christian Anderson ⁠

⁠Rapunzel collected by The Brothers Grimm ⁠

⁠Beauty and the Beast - Wikipedia ⁠

⁠Beauty and the Beast: Lost in a Book by Jennifer Donnelly ⁠

Join Emma and Sara for a dive into one of our favorite genres at Ad Aster: magical realism! In this episode, Emma and Sara discuss all things magical realism, with—in true Ad Aster fashion—tangents galore. How is magical realism uniquely powerful for processing difficult realities? How does it intersect with other genres? Who are some of our favorite magical realism authors and their stories? Tune in to explore the surreal blend of reality and fantasy that defines this genre, and discover why it holds a special place in our hearts.

In 2024, how do we want to redefine the role of writing in our lives? According to co-hosts Kate and Emma, “I write, therefore I think, therefore I am”—as in, writing is the most fundamental catalyst and medium of new thoughts, ideas, and interpretations of the world. Join them as they explore writing as a mindset (a philosophy for directing attention and intention), set new year's resolutions (it's never too late!), and chat about how writing has evolved to intersect with other newfound interests. 

INTRODUCTION TO QUANTUM THEORY by Franny Choi

Point At Which Parallel Waves Converge & From Which Diverge - Tin House

Haruki Murakami’s daily routine

Join Daniel and Sunny as they explore their friendship in the teen writing community—from their friendship origin story to being founders and Editors-in-Chief of teen writing magazines to meeting writers as people after reading their works intimately. Navigating the constellations of online competition, college matriculation, plagiarism, and gaining confidence in their work,  Daniel and Sunny have a heart-to-heart about the joys and intricacies of growing together as teen writers. 

Daniel Liu is a writer. He is the recipient of the 2023 Lin Arison Excellence in Writing Award. He was selected as the 2022 Foyle Young Poet of the Year by The Poetry Society and as a finalist for the 2022 Adroit Prize in both poetry and prose by Arthur Sze and Kali Fajardo-Anstine. He was a 2023 YoungArts National Finalist and has been recognized by the Pulitzer Center, Bennington College, Columbia College Chicago, and others. His works are forthcoming or have appeared in The Adroit Journal, Diode, Tinderbox, Sixth Finch and elsewhere. He is currently working on a collection on memory.

Sunny Vuong is a Scholastic Awards National Gold and American Voices medalist, and a scholarship winner with a Silver with Distinction medalist for her portfolio.  She was the 2022-2023 second place winner for poetry in the Bennington Young Writers’ Awards contest. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Interstellar Literary Review. Her work is featured or forthcoming in Diode, Strange Horizons, and Kissing Dynamite, among others. She currently studies molecular biology and English at Yale.

Join poet, editor, and translator Poupeh Missaghi as well as Ad Aster hosts Emma and Celina to reflect on her work. We discuss Missaghi’s book trans(re)lating house one, what it means to be a writer and reporter during times of violence and crisis, and how to subvert traditional narratives of backwardness and victimhood with aesthetics, form, and emphasis of questions over answers.

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Poupeh Missaghi is a writer, translator, and editor. Her debut book trans(re)lating house one (Coffee House Press, 2020) is a hybrid investigation of the role of the witness through the frame of the 2009 protests in Iran. her second book Sound Museum, forthcoming from Coffee House Press in 2024, investigates the history of global torture enterprise. her translation of Nasim Marashi’s I’ll be Strong for You was published in 2021 (Astra House), and she has two other translation books forthcoming in 2023 and 2024. An assistant professor of literary arts and studies at the University of Denver and a faculty mentor at Pacific Northwest College of Art MFA, she is currently based in Denver, Colorado.

links

⁠trans(re)lating house one

Poupeh Missaghi - Words Without Borders

Mapping Tehran

Visual Spotlight: Some Artists on Developing a New Visual Language of Protest

The Many Voices of the Displaced

Nowruz Journal 

In part 2 of our series on writing competitions, Emma, Ari, and Daisy talk about how to find competitions and opportunities, submitting strategies, and introduce some international writing competitions in poetry, short stories, and more, with input from guest Anna Feng on her own experience winning a Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award. 

In addition to the international contests mentioned in the episode, we’ve compiled a list of many others for you to explore! The link to that list is here. The transcript for this podcast episode is available on our website, asterlit.org. Listen to part 1 of this series on writing competitions wherever you get your podcasts.

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notable moments: 

0:33 - Finding writing opportunities & how to connect with the writing world

10:44 - Submission strategies & advice

11:30 - Different approaches to writing & submission

16:05 - Introducing international contests!

27:45 - Guest Anna Feng on the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award

29:29 - Outro

links

Chill Subs

Duotrope

Princeton High School Contests 

National Youth Poet Laureate Program

Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes

UK Poetry Society

San Jose EASTSIDE

Escapril

Inktober (drawing)

Golden Triangle haiku contest

Sundress Publications

MORE COOL CONTESTS!

Join Emma and Daisy as they explore the application process for upcoming (U.S. based*) writing competitions! Listen to first hand advice and experiences from Bennington, YoungArts, and Scholastic Winners

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notable moments:

0:25 - Meet Daisy!

2:12 - Bennington Young Writers Awards (international)

2:57 - Joanna Liu (2022-2023 Bennington YWA Winner in Creative Nonfiction)

9:50 - YoungArts Competition (US)

12:16 - Emily Pickering (2023 YoungArts Finalist in Creative Nonfiction)

15:46 - Kate Choi (2021 YoungArts Finalist in Play)

20:40 - David Chen (2022 YoungArts Merit Winner in Creative Nonfiction, 2023 Honorable Mention Winner in Creative Nonfiction)

26:28 - Scholastic Art & Writing Awards (US)

28:10 - Emma Zhang (2022 Scholastic Best in Grade and Gold Medal in Personal Essay & Memoir)

31:10 - Other contests

34:03 - Outro

links

Bennington Young Writers Awards (poetry, fiction, nonfiction | Nov 1)

Joanna Liu, “Diagnosis of Familial, Lateral Curvatures”

Ran Zhao, “How Did Li Bai Die?” (hermit crab poem)

YoungArts Competition (creative nonfiction, novel, play or script, poetry, short story, spoken word | Oct 13)

Emily Pickering, “Speak” (p. 71)

Kate Choi, “All’s in the Past Now” (p. 28)

David Chen, “Two-Faced” (p. 35)

David Chen, "Self" (p. 75) 

Scholastic Art & Writing Awards (critical essay, dramatic script, flash fiction, journalism, humor, novel, personal essay & memoir, poetry, science fiction & fantasy, short story, writing portfolio for seniors | varies)

*Some other contests*

Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest

Leonard L. Milberg ’53 High School Poetry Prize

The Princeton Ten-Minute Play Contest

Columbia College Chicago Young Authors Writing Competition

The Adroit Prizes for Poetry and Prose

*P2 will include international comps + advice on finding writing opps!