Literacy Connects Seeks Interns for Curiosities, a

Special Publishing Project

Spring 18

Apply by Nov 13th

Curiosities: A Book of Children’s Wonders, What ifs and Creative Inquiries

To imagine beyond what is known, we must first wonder. Yet, our world seems to value knowing the answers rather than asking the questions. Curiosities is designed to nurture children’s naturally curious natures by celebrating their wonders through a collaboration with visual artists, presented in the form of a coffee table style book. This not a book about providing concrete answers! It is purely an exploration of children’s questions from artists’ perspectives.

We are building a team of interns to bring this project to fruition.

Duties include:

Organizational & Project Background:

Stories that Soar!, the program behind Curiosities, is part of Literacy Connects, a 501(c)3 committed to the mission of connecting people of all ages to opportunities through literacy and creative expression. Annually, Stories that Soar! brings literacy and arts programming to over 8,000 young people across Southern Arizona. Their flagship program features a hungry Magic Box that eats young students’ stories so that a troupe of professionally trained adult performers can give selected stories back to the community through dynamic theatrical productions. Learn more about Literacy Connects and Stories that Soar! at www.LiteracyConnects.org

Recently, the Magic Box’s little cousin, the Curiosity Box, entered the scene to inspire children to “Imagine what is not and what could be” by encouraging kids to feed the box their questions. While some of these wonders have been incorporated into Stories that Soar! performances, others will come to life through this book project.

As a nonprofit, our goals are to distribute books back into the community and to use them for fundraising in support of future projects that fulfill the Stories that Soar! mission of empowering young people by giving voice to their original words and creative ideas.

Duties include:

·  Working with the Director and Intern team to solicit artistic contributions;

·  Researching potential publishers;

·  Creating a timeline to publication;

·  Contacting editors, publishers, community contributors;

·  Working with the contributors to ensure all deadlines are met (submissions, revisions, and final edits);

·  Carrying out light administrative tasks.

Reports to:

Interns will report to the Artistic Director of Stories that Soar!.

Qualifications:

·  Excellent organizational skills.

·  Highly motivated and willingness to take initiative.

·  Excellent writing and proofreading skills.

·  Strong research skills.

·  Ability to meet deadlines.

·  Ability to work effectively on a team.

Hours:

8 hours each week for the 16-week semester. Hours are flexible and work around class schedule. Much work to be done off-site. While we will track the hours the Editorial Assistant Intern puts in to report back to the University of Arizona English Department, we are more interested in the completion of tasks.

Compensation:

This is an unpaid internship.

Benefits:

Direct experience with local businesses, established illustrators, and community members. Exposure to the book industry and current literary climate. Networking opportunities and job skills development. Gaining knowledge of the publishing process.

Application Process:

Send a cover letter and resume via e-mail with Word or PDF attachments to Sharon O’Brien at . Please put “Curiosities Intern” as the subject header.