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Girls Who Invest, Million Dollar Solution, The Honest Company– these are just a few of the internships Lycoming College students have completed in the past. English literature and French double major Maya Jenkins ’23 added to this repertoire of student experiences with an internship at Folio Literary Management, an agency who represents and who has worked on award-winning titles, such as The Art of Racing in the Rain and Water for Elephants.
Jenkins found the internship with the help of Phoebe Wagner, assistant professor of English and creative writing. With additional support from Shanin Dougherty, career advisor embedded in the arts and humanities, on application materials, Jenkins was accepted into Folio’s internship program.
“When I learned I was accepted, I was so excited,” said Jenkins. “I chose this internship because of the personalized approach of the agency and their willingness to teach me about the industry and finding a job.”
As part of the twelve-week internship program, Jenkins received the opportunity to attend weekly seminars and workshops on different aspects of the publishing industry. This “Intern Academy” included topics such as editing, working with children’s books, and a resume workshop — all led by the company’s literary agents.
“This program definitely allowed me to expand upon my previous love of reading,” said Jenkins. “Now when I read, I think about how I would market that book to potential readers, or if I would choose to publish it.”
Folio interns also work directly with literary agents on a variety of tasks to help them understand and gain experience in different departments of the industry. Day-to-day, Jenkins worked on reading manuscripts, conducting research, and creating rejection letters. As well as working on two upcoming books, she worked with the Smithsonian Institution to do research on potential books for their biography collection.
“I loved working directly with the agents and getting a unique perspective on the industry,” said Jenkins. “I worked on a diverse range of projects and even got to do Intern Academy each week, a seminar on different aspects of the publishing industry.”
When asked what the program has done for her, Jenkins responded that it has equipped her on how to look for jobs in the literary world as well as given her insight on what kinds of books she wants to work with. Following graduation, she plans to pursue a career in the book publishing industry.
Whether our English majors focus on literature or creative writing, their experience in many ways reflects Auden’s union of writing and pleasure. The Lycoming English department is a tight-knit literary community where students marry their passions for writing and reading with their natural curiosity about the world around them. To learn more about the English and creative writing program at Lycoming College, visit: https://www.lycoming.edu/english/.