Photo credit: Jonathan Barbato
About Jeffrey
Jeffrey Robinson is a Boston-based writer, screenwriter, arts leader, and educator. Originally hailing from both the Endless Mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania and the Piney Woods of East Texas, he has lived and worked in New England for the past twenty years, writing literary fiction, poetry, and screenplays. His debut chapbook of poetry, Divine Office, will be published in 2027 by Finishing Line Press. His poetry has appeared in Journey and The Paddock Review.
Robinson currently serves as the Managing Director of GrubStreet – the nation’s largest and leading literary arts nonprofit and center for creative writing. Prior to GrubStreet, he worked for eleven years in corporate management consulting as a global legal operations leader. And before that taught undergraduate history courses while in graduate school. He is a proud AmeriCorps alum, having served his local Boston communities with placement at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
Robinson is a graduate, with highest distinction, of the prestigious television screenwriting certificate program at UCLA, where his original television pilot, Whittaker, was picked up by Hollywood producers. He worked towards a Ph.D. in History at the University of Massachusetts before leaving the program to pursue other interests. He holds a M.A. in History, with distinction, from the University of Massachusetts, and a B.A. in History and Political Science from Marywood University.
You can often find him working on his novel and poetry at the Boston Athenaeum, where he leads literature-based discussion groups, or perusing his favorite indie bookstores, art galleries, museums, and cultural spaces with his husband and beloved black Labrador, Daisy.
Q&A
Why is storytelling important to you?
In an exceedingly polar world, storytelling remains an ageless bridge to connect people. I’ve always believed peace is possible only when we engage with each other in our stories, myths, and traditions. I hold tight to this belief and it’s what keeps me moving as a writer and storyteller.
What does your day-to-day writing process look like?
I try to write every day, usually in the early morning hours before anyone else is awake. Since I have a busy life, I don’t have the privilege of endless writing time, and I’ve learned how to unleash the power of writing on demand. Even if it’s just a few sentences while waiting for an appointment, or on the train, I try to do so. You can edit garbage, but you can’t edit nothing, right? Finally, I always like to say reading is writing, too. If you only have five minutes and must decide between reading or writing, always choose reading.
What sparks a new idea that you can’t stop thinking about?
My best ideas come from asymmetries: bits and bobs and gleanings that are misunderstood, or lack reason, or don’t tie up nicely into a bow. Aside from the array of ideas that come from newspapers and magazines I frequent, I gain a lot of source material in keeping my ears open on the train, in cafes, in airport security lines. My Real Housewives tagline would be: I write stories - you’ll probably end up in one of them.
How do you know when a piece is finished, or at least ready to share out in the world?
Like many artists, I struggle with the notion of finality. For me, I don’t even talk about my projects until I have completed drafts, at which time I send them out to other writers whom I trust to provide feedback. I usually do 2-3 rounds of revisions, resulting in rewrites. Once I feel the piece is polished, then I know it’s ready for the world. Once you publish professionally, you will have an agent and editors also to help decide when it’s the best it can be.
With your upcoming chapbook of poetry, what made you want to share these sonnets now?
Written over the course of several years, the poems respond to the iniquities of humanity and the deep divisions that politics and dogma have wrought. Written in iambic pentameter and following the structure of prayer hours, the chapbook contains sonnets that are my prayers for peace; my songs for reconciliation; my resolve that darkness can never win against the light. Given the state of the world, this collection is needed more now than ever.