The Missouri Review is a leader in teaching students about literary publishing through our internship. Our goal is to train young literary editors in an intense, systematic program. The course is offered to undergraduate and graduate students in all disciplines, but the core group consists of students majoring in English who want to pursue careers in publishing.

The editors encourage individual initiative and teamwork, while offering interns the resource of their many years of publishing experience. Students learn practical editing skills and generate publishing credit by writing book reviews or conducting author interviews. Interested students can get involved with web and social media content development, as well as assisting in producing digital audio versions of the print magazine. Students also learn the basics of manuscript acquisition, magazine distribution and other business practices. Our interns are able to say that they have contributed to one of the finest literary magazines in the nation, with international reach, and played a role in helping shape American literature.

Interns will be expected to read 20 manuscripts a week and pitch the best submissions in weekly genre meetings as well as being the second or third reader on manuscripts pitched by fellow interns and staff. (3 credit hours; ENGL 4950/7950).

For more information on applying for the internship with TMR, students can contact managing editor Marc McKee (mckeea@umsystem.edu).

This internship with Persea Books requires a commitment of 10 hours per week, including one weekly class session that meets Friday afternoons (subject to change). Enrollment is limited to twelve students, and the course is open to both undergraduate and graduate students.

This course is a practicum in small press publishing, with an emphasis on poetry publishing. Students will be exposed to (and do real-world work on behalf of) many aspects of the poetry series of Persea Books, a small, venerable publishing house. These aspects may include reading submissions, writing reader reports and press releases, doing photo research for book covers, proofing book galleys, interviewing authors, assisting with author tours and promotion, and co-administering poetry contests. Interested students will also have the opportunity to gain a familiarity with some practical (and resume-building) facets of book publishing (e.g. book contracts, copyright application, subsidiary rights). (3 credit hours; English 4950/7950)

Application process: Applications for spring semester will be due the preceding mid-October and for fall semester the preceding mid-February. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, but applications received by the deadlines (mid-October and mid-February) will be prioritized. Submit a one-page cover letter (describing your interest in the position and relevant experience, if any) and a resume to the Assistant to the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Students selected for an internship will be notified by email near the start of early registration.

This internship provides students with hands-on experience in core operations of an award-winning online literary journal of international profile, Wigleaf: (very) short fiction. Students will read and record preliminary evaluation of submissions of flash and micro fiction (stories of fewer than 1000 words) through Submittable, the industry-standard management system. In regular staff meetings, usually held Mondays from 3:00 to 3:50, students will deliberate on submissions; as part of a small editorial team, you will also be exposed to (and potentially be given the chance to become involved in) communications with authors, the editing process, the proofing of html galleys, graphic-design planning/concept work, and the promotion of stories when they go live. Weekly time commitment, not including staff meeting: 2 ½  hours. (1 credit hour; English 4940)

To apply for the Wigleaf internship, email Scott Garson (garsons@missouri.edu). Describe potential qualifications as you see them, including enthusiasm as a reader and course work in Creative Writing.

An internship is any real-world working and learning experience. Internships provide many benefits: students receive practical exposure to a workplace or career path; skills and knowledge introduced in the classroom are more fully developed; and professional contacts are formed.

Internships come in two forms: on-campus classes that expose students to professional responsibilities for actual commercial enterprises or off-campus work without the direct supervision of a faculty member. Depending upon the type of work involved, internships will be offered as English 4940 (Internship in English) or English 4950 (Internship in Publishing).

Non-class internships must meet the following requirements:

• The internship must be related to the student’s academic area of study. In addition to being good writers, English majors have additional communication, creativity, critical thinking, and research skills that are valuable to many professional environments. Internships for English majors are varied and may include opportunities in the corporate world, government agencies, non-profit organizations, publishing, promotion, contracts, or copyrights.
• In order to receive academic credit, students must receive approval from the English department and submit the Internship Contract prior to starting work.
• The dates of the work experience must fall within the dates of one of MU's academic terms.
• The internship may be paid or unpaid.
• The internship must include an academic complement to the work experience. The student will work with the Departmental Coordinator prior to beginning work as an intern to agree upon the appropriate tasks, documentation, and deadlines for the academic component. (For more information, see Grading and Assessment below.)
• The amount of academic credit earned is based upon the following: 50 hours of work within one semester=1 credit hour; 100 hours of work within one semester=2 credit hours; 150 hours of work within one semester=3 credit hours.
• To receive academic credit for an internship through the English department, a student may not receive academic credit from any other source for the same work experience.
• Students must meet the following criteria to qualify for an internship: 1) a GPA of 2.5 or departmental consent, and 2) declared English major, minor, or departmental consent.

Grading of student internships will involve the Departmental Coordinator, the Job Supervisor, and the student intern.

The student must schedule to meet twice during the semester with the Departmental Coordinator once at the mid-term and once before the last day of classes. (At the mid-term meeting, students should provide evidence of accomplishment and work to date, and may be required to obtain a signature from the job supervisor rating the students progress at this mid-point.) These meetings are designed to review the internship progress and the learning objectives specified in the Internship Contract. In order to document the internship and provide materials for final assessment, the student must submit documentation as described below, choosing two forms of documentation from the list in coordination with the Departmental Coordinator:

• The Job Performance Evaluation indicating successful progress and completion of the internship. These may take the form of a signed letter from the Job Supervisor or the signed Job Performance Evaluation.
• A literature review, in which the student prepares an annotated bibliography of sources of the most relevant and useful works in the internship field; the number of sources is based on credit hours of the internship.
• A self-reflective paper, in which the student evaluates their own performance in a 2-3 page self-reflective progress report.
• A professional work log, a diary of experiences that documents on a daily basis the student’s activities and skills learned at the internship.
• A professional portfolio, containing tangible samples of work created by the student during the internship (e.g., brochures, copyediting samples, websites, articles).

The Departmental Coordinator will evaluate the student’s internship based upon the goals set forth in the Internship Contract, the documentation materials submitted by the student, and the Job Supervisor’s evaluation.

English 4940: Internship in English (unlike English 4950: Internship in Publishing) is graded on an S/U basis only.