PUBLISHED: October 18, 2019
From fact-checking to proofreading, from sending mail to tweeting, meet the twentysomethings who help bring you the Virginia Quarterly Review.
Annie Yanofsky
Topics of Study: English, Creative Writing, History
Favorite VQR task(s): Reading the content for the next issue and managing the Instagram
Current read: Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
Childhood ambition: I dreamed of being a CIA agent. My dad and I made a secret keyword. He said that if I ever told him I was working on an alfalfa farm, he’d know I was actually working for the CIA.
Fictional character you most resemble (or would like to): The greatest compliment would be if someone told me I resembled Skeeter from The Help.
Favorite piece of VQR content: Either “The Breakup Museum” by Leslie Jamison (Spring 2018) or “The Weight of a Nickel” by Sarah Smarsh
Hidden talent/party trick: Contortion. In high school I competed in yoga competitions.
Literary quote you’d (maybe) consider getting as a tattoo: Wouldn’t get this as a tattoo, but love this line from “Mysterious Kor” by Elizabeth Bowen: “…but for a girl and soldier who, by their way of walking, seemed to have no destination but each other and to be not quite certain even of that.”
Unpopular literary opinion: I don’t like The Alchemist.
Go-to person for: Vegetarian recipes
Literary crush (fictional or real): Elif Batuman, author of The Idiot
Emily Sumlin
Topics of Study: Media Studies, Spanish
Favorite VQR task(s): Fact-checking!
Current read: Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera
Childhood ambition: Dolphin trainer
Favorite piece of VQR content: “Fat Swim” by Emma Copley Eisenberg
Hidden talent/party trick: I can play the Cup Song from Pitch Perfect.
Literary quote you’d (maybe) consider getting as a tattoo: “We were together. I forget the rest.” — Walt Whitman
Unpopular literary opinion: I dog-ear my book pages to keep my place.
Go-to person for: Stand-up comedy recommendations
Literary crush (fictional or real): Percy Jackson
