No matter what kind of creative drive you have, sometimes the best way to find a community of like-minded people is to help build it yourself.
That’s been the experience of Tulsa-based novelist, editor, and writing educator Jes McCutchen.
As an author of young adult-oriented science-fiction, McCutchen fills her novels and stories with widely diverse casts of characters and relatable experiences, but she also works to foster an equally diverse real-life community of authors, poets, and storytellers across Oklahoma through creative writing education and the collections and events that she curates from across the full spectrum of the state’s creative scene.
Her novels - like 2022’s “Chronicles of My Alien Invasion Life” – explore timely themes of representation and accessibility through imaginative sci-fi and adventure, but the poetry collections and anthologies that she compiles and edits - like last year’s “Between the Mess and Magic” – tend to examine more grounded concerns of homemaking or parenthood.
But it’s all in service of bringing creative minds together and relieving some of the natural isolation that she says is all too common among writers of all kinds.
Jes McCutchen: My least favorite part about writing is how solitary it can feel sometimes, and that's why I love doing these anthologies, because even though we're writing our poetry or essays separately, they're all coming together in one piece.
And so you can see those professional relationships form as we're kind of all in this adventure together, and I love that part of it.
Brett Fieldcamp: For McCutchen, reaching out bringing these different writers together for poetry collections or reading events is a way to create and collaborate professionally, but it’s also an opportunity to explore new perspectives and to introduce herself and her own audience to new and unexpected voices.
Jes McCutchen: I love seeing different points of view, because my goal is always to kind of pick a topic that I personally want to explore and then see what that exploration looks like with people that are vastly different than me.
I find the contributors in a lot of different ways. Some of them are people I've known for a really long time and always admired their work. Some are people that I saw at open mics, and I was like, “Whoa. That poem is cool.”
Brett Fieldcamp: Those poetry readings and open mic events are also ways to develop spaces for young writers and newcomers to find encouragement for their own voices, but also for writers of all stripes to engage with other storytellers and exchange that communal spirit to help break up the solitude of writing alone.
Jes McCutchen: The poetry world, you definitely see it a lot, because you know, you can get two featured poets and 10 people willing to sign up for an open mic to read poetry. But with poetry, it's easier because you can say, “Hey, you've got five minutes.” Boom.
With novel writing, it's harder, but there's a lot of community in longer form writing as well. It usually takes the form of creative writing clubs, writers groups.
There are people that are willing to sit down, do some exercises, hone their craft, encourage each other, share resources. You just kind of have to seek it out.
Brett Fieldcamp: That kind of development and encouragement for young writers is something particularly close to the heart for McCutchen.
As a creative writing educator, she regularly works with young children, college students, and all ages in between to help unlock the skills and imaginations for storytelling, skills that she believes are just waiting to be unlocked inside every mind.
Jes McCutchen: Especially with young people, I really encourage curiosity, even above creativity.
So, craft can be honed, but like if you have a level of curiosity in your writing, that's what's gonna help you stick with it. That's gonna pull other people into the excitement.
I am a true believer that everyone can create, can do art, can do writing. And I know that sounds hokey, but I taught middle school. Like, if I can get a seventh grader to put together a chapbook of poetry, like, anyone can do it.
Brett Fieldcamp: But even her education work, she says, is still about helping to further strengthen and develop Oklahoma’s widespread writing community, and about championing the wildly diverse voices and experiences that make up our state.
Jes McCutchen: There's a lot of talent in this state. There is a ton of talent, and you know, like, Norman, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, have these wonderful writing communities.
And so, part of my process is just putting myself out there, watching other people put themselves out there, figuring out where I want to go, and, you know, bringing folks together.
Brett Fieldcamp: You can keep up with Jes McCutchen and all of her novels and edited collections of poetry and short stories by visiting jesmccutchenwrites.com, and you can catch her in person in a live reading and poetry workshop alongside writer Samantha Ryan Saturday, July 26th at The Lore in Norman.
For more, follow @jesmwrites on Instagram.
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