Former New York Times Writer Jeff Oloizia to Launch “Writing Forward” Podcast

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Photo courtesy Jeff Oloizia

Writing Forward with Jeff Oloizia podcast promo image

Jeff Oloizia

Originally from Brookfield, a twenty-something Jeff Oloizia felt he needed to leave the Midwest to launch his writing career. He picked a date to move to New York City, landed a couple of internships and set out to learn what was possible. Now a well-published author and journalist, his return to Wisconsin in 2020 has allowed him to truly appreciate the state’s writing scene, a literary culture he considers ‘overlooked.’

His transition to Madison after years at The New York Times was largely functional: to be closer to his family still in Brookfield during stretches of lockdown during the Covid pandemic. Oloizia couldn’t have anticipated just how inspired he would be as he settled into Madison’s writing community. “There are incredible literary scenes everywhere,” he says, “but people don’t think about their local writing scenes as up to snuff.”

Oloizia’s re-immersion in Wisconsin’s writers’ network connected him with fellow writers who were extremely talented, while also brutally honest and empathetic regarding the hardships of humanities professions: working unideal day jobs, receiving umpteen rejections for story pitches or journal submissions, and generally finding ways to survive economically and mentally. It didn’t hurt that these writers he was growing friendships with were great conversationalists over coffee, either.

“I was having these conversations [with writers] that I had been craving since I left grad school,” he remarks, recalling a café chat with author Barrett Swanson (Lost in Summerland). While talking shop with Swanson, Oloizia noticed a college-age person sitting closeby in the café, clearly listening in. “That’s when I thought: maybe there’s some value in having these conversations publicly.”

Armed now with an impetus to uplift local literature and an extensive list of accomplished state-based colleagues, Oloizia is launching Writing Forward: a weekly podcast featuring candid discussions on craft, identity and the realities of building a writing life in the Midwest.

Oloizia saw some of himself in that undergraduate eavesdropper. “When I’m looking for inspiration…I’m looking for people who are doing the thing I want to do, and all the better if they’re from the same place I’m from.” He hopes the weekly interviews are entertaining while also informative...and admits that he’s eager for his peers’ advice himself. “I’m constantly trying to create a road map of what could it look like to be a writer for the rest of my life. I think the best way to do that is to have as many conversations with as many writers as possible.”

He first considered launching Writing Forward as a magazine, but ultimately settled on a podcast after weighing other format options. “We live in an attention economy. If someone can glean some inspiration while they’re washing the dishes or walking the dog, then great!”

On Wisconsin

The podcast is primarily concerned with Wisconsin writing, its name being a nod to the state motto. Oloizia’s guests are all writers originally from or connected to Wisconsin, athough their work varies wildly by genre; some poets, some novelists or essayists. He says he hopes to potentially expand the podcast’s definition of “writer” to songwriters, zinesters, journalists and more in forthcoming seasons. Additionally, while he admits there is a surplus of creatives in Wisconsin’s urban centers of Milwaukee and Madison, he strives to reach writers in all corners of the state. “I want this to reflect what the state actually looks like.”

A key goal of the podcast is to shed light on the not-so-glamorous realities of working as a writer. With five episodes recorded so far in the 10-episode pilot season, he purports that the vast majority of guests have significant commitments they attend to outside of writing, such as day jobs and (of course) their families. “Our conversation usually starts with, ‘How do you make that work?’”

Bearing this in mind, Oloizia and his guests are rather down to earth. “Even in a globalized society, there are still sort of centralized publishing hubs,” he says on the allure of the East and West Coasts. “Being close to that can be really beneficial. But being away from that can be beneficial, too—having some space to indulge in your art and not having to think about commerce.”

Above all, he acknowledges that disparate life circumstances across the state (and world, frankly) can make creativity difficult to access. He hopes that Writing Forward is one drop in the bucket to lower barriers of entry to writing. “It’s all possible.”

Oloizia now writes freelance for Madison Magazine while also pitching stories to national outlets and working on his fiction writing. He encourages burgeoning Wisconsin writers interested in engaging with Writing Forward to reach out via web (jeffoloizia.com/writingforward) or Instagram/Facebook. The first season guest lineup includes Barrett Swanson, Chloe Benjamin (The Immortalists), Liam Callanan (Paris by the Book), Christina Clancy (The Snowbirds), Melissa Faliveno (Tomboyland and Hemlock), Maggie Ginsberg (Still True) and Dantiel Moniz (Milk Blood Heat). Episodes are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other major podcast platforms.