Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Sutton.
Chelsea, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m always a little stumped when it comes to this question because I don’t think my story is particularly interesting. I always wanted to be a writer since I learned what a book was; I wrote my first story when I was four or five, before I could spell and I know it was about two dinosaurs falling in love just based on the pictures I drew. That impulse to write never left after that.
I didn’t find theatre until high school, and it became a kind of church for me; while I wasn’t a theatre major, it still was a huge part of my college life. I got lucky that Namoi Iizuka was teaching playwriting at my university (UC Santa Barbara) at the time, and she really set the foundation for considering myself a playwright.
When I moved to LA, I kinda rolled the dice to see if I could get a job in publishing or theatre — and theatre came along first. From the beginning, being an administrator has been part of my life; I don’t know what it’s like to work in theatre without also thinking like a producer. My work has turned into equal parts making my own stuff and finding ways to support the work of others. Or at least, that is the goal.
Around 2016 I was a PEN America Emerging Voices fellow as a fiction writer, which reinvigorated my work as a prose writer, a space I didn’t have a community for until that fellowship; I went on to get an MFA in Fiction from UC Riverside and attended the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Workshop in 2022. So both theatre and fiction are equal parts of my life and identity now.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve had to learn how to be a leader through trial and error during hands-on work; I didn’t take classes on how to produce or be a marketing person or a director. I’ve observed others and dove into projects head first to figure it out on my own. This has given me confidence and also a special kind of imposter syndrome.
In my 20s, when I was more actively directing theatre, I ran into a lot of misogyny as a young, female director in rooms where I was often directing men twice my age. It was exhausting, honestly, and when I moved to a more demanding full time job with a commute, I let that be an excuse to step away from directing for about 5 years. In 2019, I was finally able to emerge from that hiatus and say out loud that I was a director again. While directing is not my main focus, I love it and it feels good to be able to say it again.
And of course, this career is all about rejection. I get 2-6 rejections per week. It’s amazing I do anything at all.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I define my writing and directing style as gothic whimsy, which spans a variety of genres such as magical realism, horror, and domestic and workplace surrealism. Since my primary writing modes are fiction and theatre, my work investigates ways to bridge and combine these modalities to create cross-genre narratives that are innovative in their structure and the ways in which they invite audiences to engage with the work, including moments of immersion and interaction.
I create work that centers and uplifts the stories of fem-presenting folks and complicates the representation of women/fem characters, and their relationships to each other as well as societal expectations/demands and the natural world. My work is most interested in the ways that fem bodies are othered, stripped of their rights and safety nets, and put in danger – and how our power can be lost, reclaimed and refined.
Last year, Wrong Publishing published my first book — a flash fiction chapbook titled ONLY ANIMALS. Next February 2026, my first novella will be published by Split/Lip Press. I’m proud to have two (small) books out in the world. I also just had a short story of mine featured on Wil Wheaton’s new podcast Storytime with Wil Wheaton, which is a dream come true. You can listen to it now! Please do — it will help make sure the next season can happen. It’s a great podcast.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Any book by Kelly Link, George Saunders, and Kurt Vonnegut — they all changed me and largely influenced my writing style. I often look to Peter Jackson’s “The Frighteners” — a movie that defines my sensibilities, as well as “Little Shop of Horrors.” I joke sometimes that I’m just trying to write MY “Little Shop.” And I won’t stop writing until I do.
I love podcasts in general, but I often listen to Maintenance Phase, If Books Could Kill, Last Podcast On the Left, Astonishing Legends, and Dead Eyes.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chelseasutton.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crsutton/
- Other: https://bsky.app/profile/crsutton.bsky.social
Image Credits
Photo 1 (puppet + man): A production photo from WOOD BOY DOG FISH written by Chelsea Sutton with Rogue Artists Ensemble; pictured Ben Messmer as Geppetto and Rudy Martinez, Lisa Dring and Emory Royston as puppeteers for the puppet. Photo by Chelsea Sutton.
Photo 2 (two girls): Reading of “I say running is like breathing” by Chelsea Sutton. Photo by Bryce Darlington.
Photo 3 (open trunk): An immersive experience created by Chelsea Sutton at the Carousel of Fools Pop-Up event, which she was Creative Director for; photo by Chelsea Sutton
Photo 4 (group of women): Cast photo from the reading of “The Abundance” by Chelsea Sutton at the Kayenta New Play Lab.
Photo 5 (bird mask): Reading of “I’ll Be Your Villain” by Chelsea Sutton.
