The blog keeps growing and growing! We’re thrilled to welcome Audrey Zhao, our new blog correspondent. She is a senior in high school from Marin, California, and interviewed Rebecca Gayle Howell for our thirteenth issue! Get to know her better in this witty self interview.
So, what’s up?
Hello, my name is Audrey Zhao.
Why are you here?
I am introducing myself as a Blog Correspondent of the Adroit blog through a selfterview (clever, right?).
Cool, cool. You work for a literary journal. Do you write?
Eh, sometimes.
Great. When you do, what do you write about?
I tend to drift towards writing poems about boys, girls, sea monsters, and the ocean.
So what catalyzed you to start writing?
I took a poetry class the second semester of my junior year of high school. Then, I participated in Adroit’s Summer Mentorship Program. I met some really incredible people and they continue to inspire me to keep writing.
Finding a community of writers has been really important for you.
Yes! Definitely. It keeps me on my writing toes. Special shout out to the Spacetimes.
So what do you like to do outside of writing?
I play chess and piano. I like being near the ocean. I enjoy showing up to my loved ones’ things and being the embarrassingly enthusiastic fan.
Okay. Aidan asked himself this question so you should answer it, too (check out Aidan’s answer here). Who’s your ideal type?
I get a lot of flack for being a sucker for stellar bone structure, man.
Sad, but true. Also, superficial…
I mean, you cut me off there. Anyway, I tend to drift towards types that are passionate about their interests and hobbies. Bonus: responds promptly to texts.
“Responds promptly to texts.” Really.
Let me live. We live in a modern age and I am an anxious girl.
Moving on. What music are you listening to right now?
Wouldn’t It Be Nice by the Beach Boys.
What are you reading?
The Art of War by Sun Tzu, L’Enfante Noire by Camara Laye, Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon, and I am always reading The Atlantic, The Economist, The Paris Review, and Slate.
What’s on your ‘To Read’ list?
Orlando by Virginia Woolf.
All time favorite book?
1984 by George Orwell. Due for a reread!
Guilty pleasure?
Oh, it is definitely eating dairy products because I am lactose intolerant. And eating foods I am mildly allergic to.
Dumb.
Life on the edge.
Anyway, unsolicited advice?
Do not become attached to intangible things.
