Hi everyone, my name is Aliyah Rios and I am Klio’s poetry coordinator this year. Born and raised in Philadelphia, reading and writing was always a part of my life. From my days of writing Austin Mahone fan-fiction and rereading all of John Green books to performing for spoken words and working on my high school’s literary magazine “Oh, word?” my love for literature was embedded in everything I’ve done. Currently I attend the Pennsylvania State University as an English major with a Business minor, gaining skills to pursue professionally what I’ve been doing for years. I display my writing skills for WORDS’ shows while also staying in touch with my ethnic roots as a member in PRSA. After graduation, I intend to go after a career in book editing at a publishing firm.
I was drawn to Klio since it is an online literary magazine created for and by Penn State students. It includes many different genres of writing that were submitted by students like fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, etc. These pieces vary on multiple topics and styles, always adding something refreshing to the magazine. Within Klio’s magazine, there are many works that touched me but two that stuck out the most.
One piece was a poem called “Another Night With Her” by Vicky Post. What struck me about the poem was it’s metaphors and imagery. It brought me to moments where I’ve experienced love like this with someone, giving me something I can not only relate to but imagine clearly. Each line and each word has clear intention to add to the poem, giving the audience everything they need to understand the depth of the narrator’s love to this girl, allowing us to experience it as well.
Another one of my picks is a creative nonfiction piece called “Listening To Myself” by Veronica Garis. This nonfiction piece goes into depth about her relationship with her partner and how she outgrew it. She takes us through every thought and event from the moment she left to visit her friend in Scotland. She describes her relationship as stagnant and how she wants more from a relationship than just that. Eventually she comes to the conclusion she needs to choose her wants and needs over the relationship since her and her partner’s wants differ. She does a great job with carrying us through this journey of listening to herself, allowing us to see and place ourselves within her shoes.
After exploring the different works on Klio’s website and working with our current staff, I am excited that I am a part of this team. As poetry coordinator for Klio, I am looking forward to seeing different types of poetry from people with diverse backgrounds, having their voices be heard and being able to help them with that. I can’t wait for you guys to see what we have in store for you and Klio.