Meet Alicia LaRosa, new intern!

Alicia is the new NOÖ Journal/Magic Helicopter Press intern. She is a student at UMass-Amherst and very enthusiastic. She sometimes has blue in her hair, but she is not a blue person. Besides doing behind-the-scenes stuff, you'll see Alicia here on the blog keeping things active: interviewing NOÖ contributors, reviewing books, highlighting cool stuff from other literary journals, and running sweet contests. Get to know!

Hi, Alicia! Where did you grow up? Do you remember any strange characters from your hometown?

Well, hello! I grew up in Hyde Park, Massachusetts—which is a part of Boston. For those who are unaware that Boston is made up of small towns, you just learned something new! Strange characters, strange characters… besides those I share blood ties with, there are always odd individuals wandering the streets of my neighborhood. I was too lost in my own mind to notice.

What are some of your favorite books?

Topic-wise, I eat interpersonal relationships, dysfunctional or not, up. Favorites include Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Choke by Chuck Palahniuk, The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter, and The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides. I encourage life-changing recommendations.

When did you first learn that abstract squiggles could make words that made people feel real things?

When I felt things. I then wanted to create those squiggly things in order to feel even more things.

What is your favorite meal?

There are memories of meals that have left impressions. While one will never be duplicated, one other can hope to be obtained. In Rome, on a corner of Campo de’ Fiori, there is a small panini shop that’s open until the middle of the night. On hot ciabatta bread with fresh mozzarella, mortadella, and lettuce… it’s a drunkard’s wobbly wet dream.

You speak multiple languages. When I was learning Spanish in high school, we all thought it was funny that the Spanish word for "pregnant" sounded like "embarrassed." I guess these things are called "false friends." What are some of the most interesting/funny things you've discovered in the process of learning different languages?

False friends get me, as well. Like how the word ‘bimbo’ means ‘poor’ in Japanese but ‘baby’ in Italian. Another favorite is Engrish—Google it and lose the rest of your day/night. Lastly, the aspect of each language I’ve dabbled in that has impacted my life—astronomically—is the music. There is so much out there past what you hear in English.