We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jeremy Jusek. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jeremy below.

Jeremy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

The first time a writing lesson sank in was in seventh grade, when our Language Arts teacher Mrs. Cross broke down craft in a digestible way. She also had us attempt several poems, which helped those early lessons sink in. I had an easier time viewing poems as a machine, where the individual parts could be tinkered with, as opposed to feeling the writing—which wasn’t something I could do until much later. I think the next two big moments of growth were Marietta College, where I got into playwriting, and then Arcadia University where I received my MFA. Arcadia was a pressure cooker.

My growth was usually hampered by my own personal obstacles. None of them were unique—demanding perfection from a few cowardly attempts at larger works instead of getting in as much practice as possible, not developing good habits, not thinking of myself as a professional, and generally being too arrogant and lazy to practice as much as necessary. For a long time I also cared what people thought of me and what I wrote. That’s another thing I would like to thank my MFA program for: I learned how to shed those insecurities and put in the work.

In terms of skills you can develop: good discipline (read and write constantly), the ability to critique or analyze a piece of writing, and a solid grasp of the fundamentals. I think every writer should occasionally revisit the basics and do some exercises. It solidifies what becomes fuzzy over time, and it often helps prompt other ideas. Writers who think they are too avant-garde usually aren’t. I’m not trying to throw any shade—I was that guy, and it was counterproductive.

The last thing that I think helps: attempting to write in unfamiliar forms and genres. Playwrights should attempt flash fiction, poets should attempt novels. I guess this is a broader comment about creatives expanding their horizons: information out reflects information in, so I tend to feel that creative work is best supported by a wide array of knowledge and experience.

Jeremy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I always felt like writing was inevitable. Like I couldn’t escape it. I knew a lot of people who were better writers than me in my lifetime, but they didn’t commit themselves fully. And I get it, because it takes up an enormous amount of time. It’s grueling. It’s easy to feel like the process is discouraging, or at times even downright cruel. I tried to avoid it, but I felt like it kept coming back to me. My mom read me The Hobbit when I was in first grade, and I was amazed that one person could put all those words onto the page and keep things straight, and from that point the beetle had burrowed in my brain.

I won’t describe that whole journey, but I will say that for several years after college I worked as a chemist in downtown Cleveland, and I would spend my breaks writing poems and stuffing them into my jeans pocket to take home and work on. Getting the career I thought I wanted wasn’t satisfying, so eventually I decided to commit and applied to grad school.

I would describe myself as a writer. I’ve written several plays, one of which won a festival award and was shortlisted for the V International Playwriting Contest in 2020. I have written three books of poetry, the third of which is being published by ELJ Editions in June, 2023. I am currently working on a horror novel and a fourth poetry collection. In 2015, I started the West Side Poetry Workshop, which offers an annual reading and anthology. I’ve taught college English and writing classes for about five years, and currently work at Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio.

Covid made me restless, so I started my favorite two projects: Poetry Spotlight, which I pitched to the Ohio Poetry Association, and a writing fellowship program which I began through Marietta College. The former is an interview-style podcast where I’ve interviewed a large range of extremely talented, veteran poets including Kari Gunter-Seymour, Hanif Abdurraqib, and John Burroughs. If you are interested in poetic craft, I highly recommend that you check out the podcast. The latter is an intensive summer program for one poet and one playwright enrolled at Marietta. Both of these projects begin their third year in the spring.

The city of Parma, Ohio named me its poet laureate for 2022-2023, so in response I created the Flamingo Writers’ Guild, which offers a wide range of literary services and support. The city had very little infrastructure, so like all new things it has been slow to gain traction. But in our first year we procured our first grant, started a monthly reading series, a micropress that publishes chapbooks, hosted a variety of events and workshops, and started several city-wide projects (psst, if you are interested in writing, Flamingos offers many online readings and workshops!).

This sounds silly, but I don’t really have any long term goals right now. All of my aspirations can be put on next year’s calendar. I do, however, feel lucky because I feel supported and embraced by Ohio’s writing community, and doubly lucky because I have the freedom and opportunity to work on the kinds of projects I enjoy. I’m mostly writing as much as possible while the tap is on, and trying to avoid saying no when opportunities knock (within reason—I have kids and the priority is theirs).

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Everything took longer than it looks. Even if someone bangs out a solid-quality poem, short story, or sketches a portrait in less time than it takes many to wash a sink full of dishes, it took them years of practice to get to that point.

I write this as a freelancer, who knows what writers, musicians, graphic designers, photographers, and other commercially-active professionals go through with clients. I’ve worked as a freelance writer for almost ten years, and sometimes clients don’t understand that you aren’t just paying for a professional’s time to perform the task, but the knowledge, talent, and experience that made the work possible.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Local, regional, or statewide nonprofit organizations. If you want to be involved in any creative endeavor, and you want others to see your work, I highly recommend figuring out what exists near you. Having access to a community, provided that organization is healthy and supportive, unlocks a lot of doors you didn’t even know were closed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jeremyjusek.com/
• Instagram: @legopoet
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jusek
• Other: Check out the podcast Poetry Spotlight on your favorite streaming site, or on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1ZbTPmksQZrP8BbcwQ6rWj Also, find the Flamingo Writers’ Guild on Facebook or through their website: https://flamingowriters.weebly.com/

Image Credits
Jeremy Jusek