by Sarah Burton
“Romance: A Novel Approach” is a class about the craft, theory, and writing of romance novels, about their impact on the reading public, and on wide-spread current and historical repudiation of the well (if often secretly) loved genre. Dangerous Books for Girls is the title of one of the class texts, written by romance author Maya Rodale. I hit the button to enroll so fast. I took the class, I loved the class, and I was excited to interview the professor and author who led the class. She is a contributor to the romance genre, herself: Jennifer Safrey.
I sit in a huddle room at work, hoping no one wonders why I’m not at my desk, and wave at Jen across the internet via Zoom.
“When did you start reading romance,” I start, “and when did you decide you wanted to teach it?”
She nods, thinking back. “I started reading it very young. When I was in 6th grade, there was a girl in my class named Susanne. Silhouette had a teen line, and Susanne had a million of them and she handed them out to our class. When they were available to me, I just started buying teen romance. Fun fact: I ended up writing for Silhouette later. That same Silhouette logo is on my first romance books.”
“In terms of teaching romance,” she continues, “I taught a community class here and there, and I saw the Emerson listing. I’m always cruising the job boards because my career is a freelance career. Emerson was there, and I applied because… this is stuff I know. I had an interview with them, and they hired me right away. Most of my teaching before this was adult education.”
The conversation turns to backgrounds, and I learn that Jen and I have something in common beyond a love of romance novels.
“My mother was a high school English teacher for many, many, many years,” Jen says. “When she retired she was the Assistant Principal for Academics. My stepfather is the Head of the English Department in the same school. I almost feel like when you’re the kid of teachers, you always end up discussing books at the dinner table and critically analyzing everything.”
Reader, this is fact. My father: a book-hoarding former math professor. My stepmother: a retired English and rhetoric professor. My mother: devoured books like they gave her life. The literary analyses never ended. I am what I am for a reason.
“Our Scrabble games are cut-throat,” Jen says, laughing, “Like, Game-of-Thrones-level fierce.”
Confession time: I will not play Scrabble, because I’m both competitive at board games and very, very bad at them. The results are not good for anyone.
“What impact do you think centering romance has on students who take the class, as well as on wider perceptions of the genre?” I ask Jen.
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Author Bio
Jennifer Safrey is a Professor at Emerson College and an author who writes contemporary romances and modern, feminist versions of characters we love from fairy stories.
Website: https://www.jensafrey.com/about
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifersafrey_author/
