Jason Allen, MFA, PhD
When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
Sometime in elementary school, I won a short story contest, and I think that planted the seed, but I can say I knew for sure when I began writing regularly as a teenager. I started with poems and short stories but always knew I wanted to publish novels.
What are some of the main themes or issues you focus on with your writing?
Definitely any and all issues related to working-class people. I grew up working-class on the edge of the Hamptons on Long Island, raised by a single mom, so we had very little in a material sense while we worked for some of the richest people in the world during their summers on the East End. That dramatic chasm between rich and working poor is a major theme in my novel, The East End, as well as in many poems and my memoir manuscript, which was recently completed.
How did you end up publishing your novel with a “Big Five” publisher?
It took a long time, a lot of patience and perseverance, and a stubborn belief that it would happen despite the slim odds. The term Big Five refers to the five giant publishing companies and their litany of imprints. These are the publishers that can afford to pay out a wide range of monetary advances and can also provide publicity and marketing, so that’s the dream for most authors, although many independent publishers produce excellent books and do what they can to promote them.
Since you were a nontraditional student, what did you do prior to entering academia?
I worked mostly as a laborer with carpenters, landscapers, general contractors, etc., and as a server at delis and other businesses where the locals on Eastern Long Island served the wealthy and other vacationers. I was sore a lot after many workdays.
What drove you to get your PhD after already having an MFA?
I discovered that I would need both to publish books and to have a PhD in order to teach creative writing at the university level, but I also had the desire to learn and practice my writing craft for as long as possible.
What are your favorite things about teaching creative writing here at WSU?
The students are wonderful. Their enthusiasm for creative writing is infectious, and I love being able to guide them to those moments of creative breakthroughs. The English Department faculty are also wonderful.
Tell us about your own DEI work in your teaching, research, and service.
I do my best to assign a diverse reading list and to discuss literature from multiple angles of experience and personal background in all of my classes. I am also a member of our DEI committee, and I feel honored to collaborate with others who have an abiding interest in developing tangible initiatives that address diversity and inclusion in the academic community here at WSU. In my own writing, I focus a lot on working-class people and their specific challenges, which is a constellation of socioeconomic issues that tie in with diverse perspectives in literature.
Based on your expertise, what is an important DEI-related issue facing the college?
I think the overall understanding of diversity in general can be improved. So many factors can be taken into account when discussing diversity. With our student population, which includes a high percentage of first-gen, nontraditional, and working-class students (as I had been myself), I feel those areas and general needs of those particular students should be addressed as much as possible, both in the classrooms and in student support initiatives. I think WSU is doing a good job already, but we should always seek to do more to support our students.
What would you like others to know about you as a person?
My ultimate desire is to inspire people and to help however I can. I hope my writing affects people on an emotional level and at times increases their capacity for empathy. I also love my dog, Luna, the silly sweetheart mutt that I adopted from a shelter when I was teaching in Georgia, and will volunteer in Wichita at local animal shelters.