Today we’d like to introduce you to Charles Jensen
Charles, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started writing as a kid. I loved reading, as did both my parents, so I think in some way I probably saw writing as a way to create joy and entertainment. But I also loved movies, and I soon turned my attention to that. I majored in film studies in undergrad, but I also took creative writing courses as well. My deal with myself was that I’d take everything I needed to graduate and then one “fun” class for myself each quarter, whether it was Intro to Sculpture or an intermediate fiction writing workshop. After college I opted to pursue an MFA in creative writing after a great deal of soul-searching. But because I wasn’t ready to give up on film, I started applying all my knowledge of film form and film theory to poetry. I thought a lot about how poems operate as sequences, and took a stab at long poems. I was so thirsty for knowledge in grad school eager to experiment. Curiosity has remained, I think, an essential tool in my writing life, as is risk-taking. After the MFA, I joined a lively community of poetry bloggers, forming meaningful connections with other writers and extending my education in contemporary literature. My first book of poems came out in 2009, and it would be ten long years before my second book appeared. While I published chapbooks during that time–chapbooks are an abbreviated publication, kind of like an EP is related to an LP in music–it was a dispiriting road to travel. During this period I started writing fiction and nonfiction, teaching myself how to write a novel, how to write a lyric essay, by taking cues from writers I admired. I’ve now emerged with a third poetry book, a memoir-in-essays, a novel, and a second essay collection, and I continue to challenge myself to find new ways to tell stories, engage readers, and surprise, most of all, myself.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think every writer has a unique experience of being a writer. For me, the writing process itself, writing that first draft, has always been a joyful and purposeful experience. I love the energy I feel when I’m creating something new. I feel pulled along by my own curiosity. Everything after that is challenging for me: revising the work and feeling like it’s “done,” going through the submission/rejection process, promoting published works. These all use different parts of my brain, and unfortunately just not the parts that generate joy for me (lol). However, going though all those later phases is the only way I can pay tribute to my enthusiasm in writing the first draft, so I force myself the best I can.
The other hard part of being a writer is juggling life to make space for it. This is true for almost all writers, as few of us have the luxury of making a living from the books we write (and the fact that anyone can is worth celebrating). Especially when writers are starting out, it’s challenging to make time for it, but time is the currency of writing, and in order to make progress we have to build a life that prioritizes it, whatever that means for each individual person. There are times when I can’t write as much or as often as I like. But living, too, is the work of writing.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
What I am proudest of in the reception to my work is the observation that I strike a good balance between work that feels “innovative” while remaining “accessible.” Accessibility is sometimes criticized in writing, especially poetry, because it seems to be predicated on writing to the lowest common denominator, but I don’t view it that way. Accessibility for me is the degree to which the writer knows who they want to invite into the work as readers, and gives them the tools to engage with the work. Innovation is sometimes at odds with that impulse because it can be rooted in a broad understanding of literary history and traditions as well as theories of meaning-making (see? It quickly gets esoteric.)
What I strive to create are works that push the boundaries of form and genre, blending and blurring these lines, but in a way that still invites casual readers in to enjoy and engage with the work. I would hate feeling like someone didn’t “get” what I was doing in a book or a poem or an essay. The reader is the person I’m speaking to when I write. I want to draw them in, I want to dazzle and entertain them, and I want them to leave the work feeling enlightened somehow. Those are lofty goals and perhaps I don’t always get there, but these are the values at the core of my artistic work.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The best thing anyone can do for writers is buy their books or request them from a local library. The next best thing they can do is read the books. I know that feels backwards, but a book’s impact is generally measured in sales (whether to people or to libraries) and sales can determine whether or not a writer gets to publish more work.
The next level would be sharing about the book–posting on social media about what you liked about it or why people should read it, writing reviews for blogs or newsletters or periodicals, or even just suggesting the book for a book club or classroom syllabus. The world is rife with things vying for our attention, and while books are starting to roar back to prominence, there are SO many books published each year that many of them struggle to find their audience. Writers do their best to raise awareness, but there is no greater advocate for us than our readers.
I’m open to collaboration opportunities with any other kind of artist! I’ve done “live writing” with a visual artist while he did “live drawing” at an event. I’ve had my work adapted into a narrative podcast that blew my mind. My work has been translated into other languages. All of those things are such amazing opportunities for me to expand my own experience of art making, see the creation process from a new angle, or just reach new kinds of audiences.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://charles-jensen.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charlesjensen
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chasjens
- Twitter: https://www.x.com/charles_jensen
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoTxJFxp90EIPLO6RdQmFIw
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Charles-Jensen/author/B09S6NZFBL
