For many writers, the fantasy of uninterrupted time and space for creative work is exactly that—a fantasy. If you haven’t landed a fellowship or residency, and you need to work to pay the bills, the writing life often comes with a day job. You spend your day or night working, potentially in a field that has nothing to do with art, and then with the remaining few hours that aren’t absorbed by commuting, you try to eke out a writerly existence. 

This panel is for writers with day jobs. Writers who draft novels on lunch breaks from restaurants and revise poems in cubicles. In this free, virtual discussion we’ll talk about unexpected strategies for drawing inspiration from your job, the danger of romanticizing the concept of the struggling artist, and most importantly, how to make space for creative writing when you work full-time.

Ruth Madievsky's writing appears in The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, Harper’s Bazaar, The Cut, GQ, Guernica, Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. She is the author of a poetry collection, Emergency Brake, and a Tin House Summer Workshop scholar. She cofounded the Cheburashka Collective, a community of women and nonbinary writers whose identities have been shaped by immigration from the Soviet Union to the United States. Originally from Moldova, she lives in Los Angeles, where she works as an HIV and primary care clinical pharmacist.

Rachel Taff is an author and television producer. Her debut novel, Paper Cut, publishes in spring 2025 with William Morrow / Harper Collins in North America and Corvus / Atlantic Books in the UK. As the Director of Development at Dynamic Television, known for Ginny & Georgia and Drops of God, Rachel develops, sells, and produces television projects. While at Shoe Money Productions, helmed by Emmy-winning director, Thomas Schlamme, Rachel developed projects for FX and managed a production slate including Snowfall, The Plot Against America, and A West Wing Special. Additional television credits include SMILF, American Dad, and Fresh Off the Boat. Hailing from Atlanta, Rachel earned a Media Arts & Entertainment degree at Elon University. She is represented by Madeleine Milburn at the Madeleine Milburn Agency and Josie Freedman at CAA. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband.