This week’s Campus Celebrity is Ashley Johnson, who graciously answered my last minute questions…. but hey, if it’s not last minute, is it uni?
What is your role in Penryn Press?
“I am the Directorial Assistant in the Digital Department of Penryn Press. My role is to, hopefully, keep everything on the Digital side of things running smoothly. Everyone (all 4 people, including my lovely boss, Alex Simon-Lewis) is super passionate about this crazy, future frontier of literature, so if everything pans out, Penryn Press will explode onto all of your fancy devices and e-readers very soon. Our first project is a shiny, digital version of Penryn Press’ collection of children’s short stories, ‘Did You Know There Are Dragons in Cornwall?’ Are you excited yet?”
How did you get involved?
“I applied! I had to send in a CV and a cover letter and everything! As an English student, I’m naturally averse to any degree of employability, but this was too interesting an opportunity to pass up. Penryn Press have an open call for submissions at the moment, so if you are at all interested, I’d definitely encourage you to submit something. Why not?! In fact, everyone (especially me) should do more generally. Let’s all run for the FXU Elections!”
What do you do in your spare time?
“I was cornered by some Journalism students the other day, while I was eating a burrito (which is not a food you really want to be filmed eating), and they asked me where I like to “hang out” in Falmouth. I panicked, and said, “Uhh… The Prince of Wales Pier?”, and presumably looked like a right weirdo. (No, but seriously the pier is great. You should ALL go.) I’ve found myself doing an obscene quantity of pub quizzes, and my team keeps coming second and winning beer. One day, we’ll come first and I can finally leave that chapter of my life behind. Other than that, I’m an English student, so reading. A lot of reading”
Are you involved in any other campus events/organisation?
“Yes! I am the Secretary for the FXU Debating Society. My role is much the same as my Penryn Press job, just with fewer books and much (much) more arguing. We’re a fairly small society (so we’re quite cheap), but we’ve got fairly big things planned for this year. Come along and learn to argue with style and panache. You don’t need to have done any debating before, it’s just a bit of a (massively self-confidence and eloquence boosting) laugh”
What is your favourite colour?
“My favourite colours are green and purple. So, I’m screwed if I ever get picked to be the red Power Ranger or something. I just don’t have the wardrobe for it. Also, whenever I wear green and purple together, people inevitably make Incredible Hulk comments. Basically, I don’t think I’m sartorially equipped to be a super-hero. It is a tragedy”