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In 2024, how do we want to redefine the role of writing in our lives? According to co-hosts Kate and Emma, “I write, therefore I think, therefore I am”—as in, writing is the most fundamental catalyst and medium of new thoughts, ideas, and interpretations of the world. Join them as they explore writing as a mindset (a philosophy for directing attention and intention), set new year's resolutions (it's never too late!), and chat about how writing has evolved to intersect with other newfound interests. 



INTRODUCTION TO QUANTUM THEORY by Franny Choi

Point At Which Parallel Waves Converge & From Which Diverge - Tin House

Haruki Murakami’s daily routine

Join Daniel and Sunny as they explore their friendship in the teen writing community—from their friendship origin story to being founders and Editors-in-Chief of teen writing magazines to meeting writers as people after reading their works intimately. Navigating the constellations of online competition, college matriculation, plagiarism, and gaining confidence in their work,  Daniel and Sunny have a heart-to-heart about the joys and intricacies of growing together as teen writers. 



Daniel Liu is a writer. He is the recipient of the 2023 Lin Arison Excellence in Writing Award. He was selected as the 2022 Foyle Young Poet of the Year by The Poetry Society and as a finalist for the 2022 Adroit Prize in both poetry and prose by Arthur Sze and Kali Fajardo-Anstine. He was a 2023 YoungArts National Finalist and has been recognized by the Pulitzer Center, Bennington College, Columbia College Chicago, and others. His works are forthcoming or have appeared in The Adroit Journal, Diode, Tinderbox, Sixth Finch and elsewhere. He is currently working on a collection on memory.



Sunny Vuong is a Scholastic Awards National Gold and American Voices medalist, and a scholarship winner with a Silver with Distinction medalist for her portfolio.  She was the 2022-2023 second place winner for poetry in the Bennington Young Writers’ Awards contest. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of Interstellar Literary Review. Her work is featured or forthcoming in Diode, Strange Horizons, and Kissing Dynamite, among others. She currently studies molecular biology and English at Yale.

Join poet, editor, and translator Poupeh Missaghi as well as Ad Aster hosts Emma and Celina to reflect on her work. We discuss Missaghi’s book trans(re)lating house one, what it means to be a writer and reporter during times of violence and crisis, and how to subvert traditional narratives of backwardness and victimhood with aesthetics, form, and emphasis of questions over answers.



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What is the role of the writer or artist in times of turmoil and crisis?
What does it mean to translate(re)late? What should we keep in mind when joining together stories?
What is lost in creating content for the “other”? How does one subvert expectations of “traumaporn” and victimhood in marginalized literature through questions, aesthetics, and form?
What is the relationship between searching for the truth and searching for how to tell the truth? In what ways can fragmentation reveal a more accurate truth?
What is the strength in revisiting questions and open ended text, in intentional form and style? How do we ask questions when we know there isn’t an answer? Is reporting/writing/exploration just a labyrinth of stories?
How can young writers and artists explore and create for positive social change?



Poupeh Missaghi is a writer, translator, and editor. Her debut book trans(re)lating house one (Coffee House Press, 2020) is a hybrid investigation of the role of the witness through the frame of the 2009 protests in Iran. her second book Sound Museum, forthcoming from Coffee House Press in 2024, investigates the history of global torture enterprise. her translation of Nasim Marashi’s I’ll be Strong for You was published in 2021 (Astra House), and she has two other translation books forthcoming in 2023 and 2024. An assistant professor of literary arts and studies at the University of Denver and a faculty mentor at Pacific Northwest College of Art MFA, she is currently based in Denver, Colorado.



links

⁠trans(re)lating house one

Poupeh Missaghi - Words Without Borders

Mapping Tehran

Visual Spotlight: Some Artists on Developing a New Visual Language of Protest

The Many Voices of the Displaced

Nowruz Journal 

In part 2 of our series on writing competitions, Emma, Ari, and Daisy talk about how to find competitions and opportunities, submitting strategies, and introduce some international writing competitions in poetry, short stories, and more, with input from guest Anna Feng on her own experience winning a Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award. 

In addition to the international contests mentioned in the episode, we’ve compiled a list of many others for you to explore! The link to that list is here. The transcript for this podcast episode is available on our website, asterlit.org. Listen to part 1 of this series on writing competitions wherever you get your podcasts.

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notable moments: 

0:33 - Finding writing opportunities & how to connect with the writing world

10:44 - Submission strategies & advice

11:30 - Different approaches to writing & submission

16:05 - Introducing international contests!

27:45 - Guest Anna Feng on the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award

29:29 - Outro

links

Chill Subs

Duotrope

Princeton High School Contests 

National Youth Poet Laureate Program

Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes

UK Poetry Society

San Jose EASTSIDE

Escapril

Inktober (drawing)

Golden Triangle haiku contest

Sundress Publications

MORE COOL CONTESTS!

Join Emma and Daisy as they explore the application process for upcoming (U.S. based*) writing competitions! Listen to first hand advice and experiences from Bennington, YoungArts, and Scholastic Winners

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/ˌad ˈa-str ep ˌ-sōd 'twen-ty /to͞o/ /n.


Mosaic of tips and reflections from past Bennington Young Writers Awards, YoungArts, and Scholastic winners


Joanna - Meaningful form (hermit poems!) (as a reformed STEM + Elon Musk stan)


Emily - “Someone should be able to pick up your piece off the ground and know that it’s yours”+ send what you love!


Kate - You learn a lot from the process of applying + last-minute submitting panic + Covid YoungArts experience


David - Be true to your craft and style


Emma - Slightly stealing mini jam from scholarship breakfast in NYC


Daisy - Contests or not, it’s all about the craft





notable moments:



0:25 - Meet Daisy!

2:12 - Bennington Young Writers Awards (international)

2:57 - Joanna Liu (2022-2023 Bennington YWA Winner in Creative Nonfiction)

9:50 - YoungArts Competition (US)

12:16 - Emily Pickering (2023 YoungArts Finalist in Creative Nonfiction)

15:46 - Kate Choi (2021 YoungArts Finalist in Play)

20:40 - David Chen (2022 YoungArts Merit Winner in Creative Nonfiction, 2023 Honorable Mention Winner in Creative Nonfiction)

26:28 - Scholastic Art & Writing Awards (US)

28:10 - Emma Zhang (2022 Scholastic Best in Grade and Gold Medal in Personal Essay & Memoir)

31:10 - Other contests

34:03 - Outro



links

Bennington Young Writers Awards (poetry, fiction, nonfiction | Nov 1)

Joanna Liu, “Diagnosis of Familial, Lateral Curvatures”

Ran Zhao, “How Did Li Bai Die?” (hermit crab poem)

YoungArts Competition (creative nonfiction, novel, play or script, poetry, short story, spoken word | Oct 13)

Emily Pickering, “Speak” (p. 71)

Kate Choi, “All’s in the Past Now” (p. 28)

David Chen, “Two-Faced” (p. 35)

David Chen, "Self" (p. 75) 

Scholastic Art & Writing Awards (critical essay, dramatic script, flash fiction, journalism, humor, novel, personal essay & memoir, poetry, science fiction & fantasy, short story, writing portfolio for seniors | varies)

*Some other contests*

Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest

Leonard L. Milberg ’53 High School Poetry Prize

The Princeton Ten-Minute Play Contest

Columbia College Chicago Young Authors Writing Competition

The Adroit Prizes for Poetry and Prose



*P2 will include international comps + advice on finding writing opps!

Join Editor in Chief Emma Zhang and Managing Editor Celina Naheed as we discuss our literary magazine theme for fall 2023: Lacuna.  

Originating from the latin etymon Lacus, meaning “lake,” the word Lacuna is defined as an unfilled interval, or gap; as in, a gap filled with water, like the ones in history, or like our perception of the world, translation, black-out poetry, the editing process, and the diaspora experience. 

What does lacuna mean to you? Submit your own exploration to our Fall 2023 Issue of Aster Lit: asterlit.org/submit⁠!



Pieces referenced:

Erasure in Three Acts: An Essay by Muriel Leung

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet-books/2021/11/erasure 

Dispatch in Two Parts: The Arab Body Writes Itself In

https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/dispatch-in-two-parts-the-arab-body-writes-itself-in/

Winter Tangerine Skins Issue: http://www.wintertangerine.com/shedding-skins-toc

Someday I’ll love [Redacted] by Daniel Liu https://www.indigoliteraryjournal.com/issue-four/daniel-liu 

Follow us on Instagram: 

@ aster.lit

Or email us

general@asterlit.org

Submit to our fall issue: Lacuna by November 10th: asterlit.org/submit

Guidelines and details on the website.



If you have any episode ideas or feedback, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/zyF2NWsBQ8qX8Cg36