Next up in our “Meet the Staff” series is our multi-talented, hard-working Programs Director, Sara Cutaia. If you’ve met Sara in person, chances are you’ve had a conversation with her on topics ranging from the majesty of Taylor Swift to the US Women’s National Team to the latest romantasy novels to her long-standing beef with how the ball is spotted after a play in professional football (why can’t we put a sensor on the ball?!). Yes, she is a person of wide-ranging interests.
But it’s Sara’s relentless energy, incredible organizational skills and attention to detail, and her blazing passion for StoryStudio that truly help make this organization the success it is. Here is our conversation with Sara.
As one of the longest-tenured StoryStudio staffers, please tell us about your evolution to your current position, and what your current position entails.
It’s hard to believe I started over seven years ago! I was hired as a part-time Studio Manager, which included answering emails, sending out the newsletter, helping instructors arrange their classes, sending rosters, and all manner of other administrative tasks. I was at the studio every night when classes began – and we had a full house Monday – Thursday! We hadn’t yet dipped our toes into online courses, and I absolutely loved seeing student faces come in the door every night. At the time, the Studio Manager position was a combination of what has now expanded into three different Program Department positions, and even a little bit of Marketing.
As StoryStudio grew, and I came to know very intimately the ins and outs of the organization, its audience, and our offerings, I was promoted to Director of Signature Programs, and we started to expand the Programs Team to include a program curator, a studio manager to replace me, an admin assistant, and made marketing its own department. My job was to help shape the signature programs – like our In a Year courses, retreats, and various other series that came and went – at a higher level, and we put a lot of new systems in place to help the Studio grow!
Now I’m the Programs Director, which still has a lot of the responsibilities of my former roles (I’m still heavily involved with emailing students and instructors in various ways, which I love!), and now includes overseeing our community programming arm of the Stories Matter Foundation, the Chicago Stories Project. The CSP is a passion of mine, as I love leaning in to our mission of reaching writers and storytellers of all ages, in all stages of life, even before they might even know they’re interested in writing. I am thrilled, as well, that I have a large, thriving programs team under me that helps make sure we’re providing quality classes day in and day out!
You are from Texas, but have put down firm roots here in Chicago. What do you love about the Chicago literary community?
So much! Rebecca Makkai (our Artistic Director) talks about this all the time, but if you’re not from Chicago (and sometimes even if you are) you might not think of Chicago as a literary town, but you’d be very mistaken. On any given day of the week, there are probably 5-10 events, shows, readings, conversations, etc. that you could attend, many of them for free. The bookstore community is tremendous – I have many close friends that are booksellers (hi Greg!) and owners, and indie bookstores make the fabric of any city richer.
I came here to get my MFA in Creative Writing, and while going through the program I realized there are multiple colleges in the city with MFA or MA programs, and all of those writers are looking for connection, community, and ways to continue working on their craft. I know at StoryStudio one of our goals is to give those writers incentive to stay and be writers living and writing here in the city, rather than making their way to New York or elsewhere after graduation. It’s exactly what happened to me – when I discovered StoryStudio right as I neared the end of my program, it was like something unlocked, and I knew I could stay and thrive in Chicago. Here I am, a decade later, still in love with Chicago and the literary community.
What are some of your favorite pieces of advice for writers?
This has changed over the years as I’ve gone through different phases of my personal and professional life. Right now, I’m sitting with “it’s ok to be in a lull.” Every writer processes crisis, turmoil, stress, etc. differently – some throw themselves into the writing, and I used to be that way, too. Others, like where I am right now, need to gently put a manuscript in a drawer and not beat themselves up if the words aren’t coming, if the inspiration feels dulled, if you haven’t opened your document in months. It will always be there, and hopefully you come back to it when you’re ready, all the better for giving yourself the space. (And I also love to pair this with the advice that more than just butt-in-seat is considered writing: you can take a walk about your book, you can shower about your book, you can talk about your book, you can read about your book – all of those things can be considered “writing” without ever actually sitting down.)
Please tell us about your dog. Apollo, who is perfect.
APOLLO IS PERFECT ISN’T HE?! My husband and I adopted him in December 2021, when he was three months old. We got that DNA test done for him and found out he’s a beautiful, strange mix of Great Pyrnees, German Shepherd, Australian Shepherd, and Beagle – don’t worry, he’s the runt of the litter so he maxed out at 50 lbs, to our relief. He’s a lean, independent little boy who is the most food motivated animal I’ve ever met, who absolutely wants to be in the same room as you, on the same furniture as you, but would like his personal space, thank you very much for not cuddling, he has things to be alert for! He loves every other dog he meets, and probably every other human even more. My husband, who was a self-proclaimed cat-person before getting Apollo, fights me over who loves him more on a daily basis. (I do, don’t listen to him.)
What are you reading/watching/listening to that you’d recommend?
Oof, showing self-restraint here to not list ALL the things – I love talking about things I love. I recently was on the Chicago Writers Podcast and dropped recommendations to watch Andor (the Star Wars series that I SWEAR is some of the best television out right now, Star Wars fan or not), and Severance (the hype is real, people), so I’ll casually drop those again and share two books in addition: This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, a 2019 little “science fiction fantasy LGBT epistolary novel” I picked a few years ago that’s some of the most interesting, unique storytelling I’ve come across. AND El-Mohtar recently published a novella called The River Has Roots, another unique story steeped in folklore and magic about sisters and love and language that I finished in one sitting. El-Mohtar is a talent to watch!