Hello once again on another Sunday! Another editor is ready to be revealed for our wonderful community. A fantastic addition to our series, and a fantastic person. Here is Payton Emond, assistant poetry editor:
Payton is a senior at Lewis University majoring in Professional Writing and minoring in Organizational Communications. She is also a tutor at the University Writing Center, and a member of the Lewis Women’s Soccer Team. In the rare moments that she has time to do with as she pleases, Payton enjoys watching cooking shows, exploring new hiking trails or cities, and wandering aimlessly around book shops. Her hope as an editor for Jet Fuel Review is to call attention to those pieces that sound alarms in the soul by balancing the commonality of human experiences and the author’s own knowledge through meticulous threading of language. Some of her favorite authors are bell hooks, E. B. White, William Wordsworth, and Virginia Woolf.
Read Emond’s Q & A Below:
Answer these questions:
-Who are you and what is your role in the Jet Fuel Review?
My name is Payton, I am a senior at Lewis, and I am an Assistant Poetry Editor for JFR
-What book might we find on your nightstand right now?
I have quite a few on my nightstand at the moment, as I often start reading a couple different books depending on my mood then continue with the one that becomes impossible to put down. Right now I have The Host by Stephanie Meyer and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.
-If you had the chance to co-write with one author, who would you choose? Why?
I honestly have no clue!
-Describe your perfect reading atmosphere.
In a room busy with stuff, whether it be books or a random collection of items, completely void of other people. Door shut, lights on and window closed so I don’t feel pressured by the time of day to stop reading. If the room is in a loud house or building, I would put headphones in and turn on a playlist I know by heart, so the music doesn’t distract me from the books, as another buffer between myself and any part of every day life that could pull me out of the story. Essentially a timeless space.
-What might your personal library look like?
The Shakespeare and Company Bookstore in Paris, France, from the genre categorization to the complete lack of empty wall space; an undeniably diverse collection of plots, purposes, and intentions. One tall lamp, one comfortable chair, a carpeted floor, and one grand window with a window seat.
-If you could “re-make” a poorly written movie that was based on a book, what movie would it be?
I can’t say I think about this often, so the first movie off the top of my head would be The Mortal Instruments: The Bone City. I remember being extremely disappointed in how far the producers deviated from the novel when I first watched the movie in high school, mostly because it was a series I had been obsessed with at the time.
-What piece of literature can you reread over and over again?
The Hunger Games. For whatever reason this is the book I always bring with me on flights or long car rides, typically in company with something I haven’t yet read. This way, if I don’t end up liking the new book, I know I have Hunger Games to entertain me as a back up.
-Give us a quote from your favorite (or any) book/movie.
“ I realize I have dashed about the world madly, looking at this, looking at that, storin gup images against the fading light. But I might have missed seeing the desert!” – from Alice Walker’s “Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self”
-If you were invited to have coffee with any fictional character, who would you most like to meet? Why?
Probably the Mad Hater because he seems like a quite bizarre type of person and one I could have interesting conversations with.
-Share your top five favorite pieces of writing (anything included, be it movies, books, etc.).
I have three:
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- “I Am Accused of Tending to the Past” by Lucille Clifton
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett