The end of the week is approaching and, to celebrate, we’re ready to introduce yet another of our brand new editors here at the Jet Fuel Review. This week we have Gabby Muir, one of our Assistant Poetry, Fiction/Nonfiction, and Copy Editors.
Gabby is a junior at Lewis University majoring in English Language Arts and Secondary Education. She attended Augustana College for two years before transferring to Lewis. Gabby has had a love of literature from the moment her tiny baby neck could support her baby head well enough to look at words on a page. In particular, Gabby is a huge fan of poetry, collecting the works of poets such as Sylvia Plath, Saul Williams, Allen Ginsberg, and Edgar Allan Poe. Her favorite book of all time is A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. When she is not being crushed by a mountain of homework, Gabby spends her time working at Barnes and Noble, playing video games, attempting to make her cats like her, and sleeping. Gabby hopes to become a high school English Literature teacher and spread her love of the written word to her students.
Below is our Q&A with Gabby Muir:
Who are you and what is your role at Jet Fuel Review?
My name is Gabby Muir. I transferred to Lewis last spring and this is only my second semester here. I think I am a junior, and I am sure that I’m majoring in Secondary English Education. My ultimate goal is to teach senior high schoolers AP Literature and Composition, as that was my favorite class throughout my school career. When I’m not spending my entire paycheck at the bookstore where I work, I enjoy sleeping when I should be doing homework, looking for Frank Sinatra records in secondhand stores, and playing Fallout: New Vegas for the millionth time in a row. At the Jet Fuel Review, I am an Assistant Poetry Editor, Assistant Fiction/Creative Nonfiction editor, and Assistant Copy Editor.
What book might we find on your nightstand right now?
I am currently working through The Disaster Artist by Greg Sestero in preparation for the upcoming movie.
If you had the chance to co-write with one author, who would you choose? Why?
It would be an honor to resurrect Allen Ginsberg from the grave and collaborate on some poetry with his reanimated corpse. Ginsberg’s “Howl” was my gateway drug into the world of poems and he was a super weird dude. It would be amazing to be able to pick his brain just for a day.
Describe your perfect reading atmosphere.
I like to read curled up in a blanket burrito in my bed, preferably with inclement weather outside to add a bit of white noise.
What might your personal library look like?
I have a huge bookshelf that is double stacked with books from the course of my whole life. I think it is a crime to get rid of a book, and I only recently parted with a lot of books from my earlier childhood. I’ve got old textbooks, Pushcart Prize compendiums, leather-bound classics from Barnes and Noble (thank you employee discount), every book of Ginsberg’s that City Lights has ever published, advance reader editions I got from work and never bothered to read, and a whole mess of books that I’ve picked up at resale shops.
If you could “re-make” a poorly written movie that was based on a book, what movie would it be?
Ella Enchanted. While Anne Hathaway tried her best to make the script work, the movie version of one of my favorite books cut out so much of the original book content. It turned an inspiring story of a young woman taking control of her destiny into a bland, damsel-in-distress pile of garbage. However, I did appreciate the random dance number at the end of the movie.
What piece of literature can you reread over and over again?
The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett.
Give us a quote from your favorite (or any) book/movie.
“Everything’s a story — You are a story — I am a story.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess
If you were invited to have coffee with any fictional character, who would you most like to meet? Why?
Hamlet. That boy needs a friend to talk to. I think that with a few kind words and a recommendation to a good therapist a lot of death and violence could be avoided.
Share your top five favorite pieces of writing (anything included, be it movies, books, etc.).
- “A Note” by Wislawa Szymborska
- said the shotgun to the head by Saul Williams
- The Power of One by Bryce Courtney
- Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 directed by Quentin Tarantino
- “The Sifters” by Andrew Bird
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Come back again next Friday for when we put the spotlight on yet another new editor.
