Praxis Course: Praxis Independant Study
Semester: Spring 2026
Faculty Advisor/Professor: Jamie Taylor
Community Partner(s): Jackleg Press
Praxis Site Supervisor: Jennifer Harris
Praxis Poster:
PIS KathrynGentry
Further Context:
My main goal for this internship was to learn about the world of book publishing and independent presses. As a Literatures in English major at Bryn Mawr, I have spent my academic career looking at published material, but had not had the opportunity to work with the raw material of written work. Before embarking on this internship my goals were to develop editorial judgement and literary evaluation skills. I was thrilled by the prospect of working at Jackleg, and with Jen, to fulfill these goals.
As editorial interns at Jackleg, my cohort worked with Jen and the Jackleg team to evaluate submissions for publishing. Interns would read submissions, rate them, and write a brief blurb about the work and our opinions. This review process was incredibly rewarding—it provided me with new perspectives on how writing develops. I enjoyed reading critically and noting areas in pieces that could be improved. Through this internship I also developed my ability to write concise reviews on pieces. For each submission that we read, interns would write a 350-word blurb about what we liked and didn’t like about the piece. Through these writing submissions I learned how to think critically about writing style. Perhaps more importantly, I also learned how to saturate my own opinion into these blurbs. It is easy to write off a piece as objectively ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ but it was harder to figure out exactly what I liked or didn’t like about a writing sample.
Through funding from Bryn Mawr’s Praxis program, my internship cohort had the opportunity to attend the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference in Baltimore. This event was an incredible opportunity to network and learn more about the industry. My fellow intern/friend Catherine Utzinger ’26 and I were attended a reading by author Carmen Maria Machado and caught up with Bryn Mawr alumna Quinn Christensen ’24. This conference was a great opportunity to see what future careers in publishing might resemble. I am so grateful that through Jackleg and Bryn Mawr I was able to attend this conference, it was a fantastic networking and learning opportunity.
At the end of the semester, looking back on my time with Jackleg, I can say that I have gained perspective into independent publishing and have developed my editorial skills. I felt that I got a hands-on experience of evaluating submissions. Writing these reviews has gotten easier and I have gained industry vocabulary that will help me as I seek out other jobs in publishing. I have also begun building a network of publishing professionals: Jen, my internship cohort, the folks at Jackleg, and people I met at AWP. Ultimately my internship gave me a fantastic opportunity to gain work experience in the industry, meet mentors and peers, and develop essential skills for a career in publishing.