Reina on top of the Lake Superior Palisades this summer.

Hello! My name is Reina Markert (she/her) and I’m excited to be the Spring 2022 intern for History Through Fiction! I was lucky enough to grow up in Minneapolis, which makes me especially excited to work with a Minnesota publisher. Since my mother is a school librarian and my father is a professional photographer, my brother and I were surrounded by stories during our childhood, both written and visual. With that distinct love of storytelling imbued in me, I look forward to working with History Through Fiction to achieve a deeper understanding of the publishing process while also working to create historically relevant books.

This internship will help me complete a Certificate in Publishing awarded by the English Department at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. I’ll graduate in May with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Studies and English Literature. I will also complete the DirecTrack to Teaching Program, a unique opportunity for students at the University of Minnesota to explore the American education system through classes and experiential learning in schools across the Twin Cities. Though I may not become a teacher in the United States, I am applying to teach English in Spain in the upcoming school year. After teaching in Spain for a year or two, I hope to come back to the U.S. to pursue a career in publishing.

As stories have always been my first love, the study of the Spanish language came naturally, allowing me to communicate with even more people. During my high school years, my family took in over a dozen foreign exchange students. Many of them came from Spanish-speaking countries, and my experience with them sparked an interest in learning Spanish and living abroad. I had the opportunity to live that dream when I embarked on a gap year in 2017 to Ecuador. Living in a small mountain town with my host family for eight months taught me about the importance of resilience, cross-cultural communication, and open-mindedness. (It also gave me some hard skills, like when I got to help with roasting a pig in our yard for Easter!) Though I didn’t have the opportunity to study abroad in college because of the pandemic, I’m grateful for the eight months spent in Ecuador, and I’m looking forward to moving to Spain to continue growing my Spanish and connecting with people from cultures different than my own.

In my free time, I love to read (obviously), cross stitch, bake, volunteer, explore the outdoors, and hang out with my friends. Some of my most notable jobs have been as an alpine ski instructor, AmeriCorps member, and canoe guide in the Boundary Waters, all of which have given me skills and experiences I use daily. Since this is an internship centered around books, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that my favorite novel is The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne—if you’re looking for an emotional rollercoaster with the most lovely prose, it’s perfect. Also, I’m obsessed with my dog and will show anyone a picture of him with little to no prompting. If you’d like to connect with me, the best way to reach me is through email: intern@historythroughfiction.com. I look forward to learning from and engaging with the HTF community!