Internship

Available every semester
Stadler Center for Poetry
One non-traditional study course credit
Applicants must be currently-enrolled Bucknell University undergraduates

West Branch magazine, housed in Bucknell's Stadler Center for Poetry, offers a competitive, semester-length , non-paid internship for qualified sophomores, juniors, and seniors who may wish to pursue a career in publishing. The internship will be most relevant to students interested in creative writing; contemporary literature; or magazine publishing, editing, marketing, and management, literary or otherwise. Students from any major are welcome to apply. The West Branch internship is available in the fall and spring semesters of each year.

The West Branch internship will require 6-10 hours of work per week, some of which may be completed away from the office. Though the internship is offered on a nonpaid basis, interns will earn one non-traditional study course credit for successful completion of the semester-length program. The internship is equivalent to one class.

West Branch is a biannual journal of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and reviews, published in the spring and fall of each year, supported by Bucknell University, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and proceeds from sales and subscriptions. Established in 1977 by founding editors Karl Patten and Robert Love Taylor, West Branch is now in its fifty-fourth volume. West Branch receives nearly one thousand unsolicited manuscripts per year from a national pool of contributors, many of whom are well-known to the world of literary publishing. Editorial staff for West Branch consists of Professor of English Paula Closson Buck, editor-in-chief; Andrew Ciotola, managing editor; senior associate editor Ron Mohring, and a rotating associate editor, currently Rebecca Warner.

The West Branch intern will assist the editors in all levels of magazine production, from initial screening of received manuscripts to checking final page proofs before printing. The intern may expect to be involved in the organization, editing, production, distribution, and promotion of the issue to be published during his or her tenure. Applicants should be aware that not all duties will be equally challenging; however, all duties will be of equal importance to the successful and timely production of the magazine. Furthermore, the duties to which the intern will be assigned are duties that are common to most periodical journals and magazines. For this reason, the internship will provide excellent experience for students eventually seeking employment in publishing. Upon completion of the program, the competent and self-starting intern can expect to receive a letter of recommendation to potential employers from the editor of West Branch.

Some intern duties will depend on the experience and interests of the intern. Duties may include some of the following:

Joining editors in weekly meetings to review submitted poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.
Maintaining correspondence with contributing authors and editorial staff of other journals.
Keeping abreast of developments in other literary journals.
Researching new sources of funding.
Maintaining the West Branch webpage.
Developing new marketing and advertising strategies.
Enhancing magazine graphics and design.
Manuscript evaluation.
Logging received manuscripts into a central database.
Clerical and organizational responsibilities.
Maintaining the subscription database.

Time will be allotted for training in any task with which the intern is unfamiliar.

In addition to routine duties to be completed each week, the intern will be expected to take responsibility for one or more larger projects, to be developed and realized over the course of the semester. In this and other business, the intern may be asked to draw on his/her language and analytic abilities as an English major, knowledge of library and research methods, computer skills, and organizational proficiency. The editors may actively seek the intern's insight on a variety of topics. The intern will be required to attend all routine editorial meetings (not more than one per week). As an important member of the West Branch team, the intern's name will appear on the masthead of the issue to which he/she contributes.

Since an academic element is necessary in order for the intern to receive course credit, the intern also will be required to complete one large or two small papers on subjects dealing with literary publishing, ultimately to be graded by the sponsoring faculty member.

The intern will meet on a regular basis with the managing editor to discuss magazine business and the intern's progress on routine duties and larger projects.

Students interested in the West Branch internship are required to submit a letter of interest, resume, two letters of recommendation from professors and/or previous employers (at Bucknell or otherwise), and an academic transcript.

All application materials should be directed to:

Andrew Ciotola
Managing Editor, West Branch
10 Bucknell Hall
7-1853 / ciotola@bucknell.edu

Please contact Andrew Ciotola at the above address for information regarding deadlines, availability, and any other concerns.