Susan's latest bio:
Susan Keith grew up in North Carolina, earned degrees at Mount Holyoke College and Emory University School of Law and practiced law
for fifteen years. She's enrolled in the Creative Writing Program at UCLA Extension. Her poem "A Festive Holiday Photo" was one of
four runners-up in the
2007 Fish International Poetry Contest
and is published in the 2007 Fish Anthology. Her poem "Remembrance"
won First Prize in the
2006 Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse,
then was published in the anthology
Sailing in the Mist of Time. Her poem "Tombstones" was published in the
minnesota review after placing on the short list for beginning and emerging
poets in the 2006 Being At Work Challenge. In addition to the Second Prize earned by "Visiting My Father’s Office" in the
2007 Tom Howard/John H. Reid Short Story Contest,
her short stories
"Magnolia" and
"Labor of Love Day, 2005" were Most Highly
Commended in the contest.
"Magnolia"
was also a finalist for the
2006 New Letters Alexander Patterson Cappon Prize for Fiction.
Her poem "The Blue Laptop" was on the long list for the 2006
Bridport Prize and her poem "Debbie Reynolds and Me and the Giant Squid"
was longlisted in the 2006 Fish International Poetry Contest.
She currently ranks in the top ten fundraisers in
Oregon's 2007 Multiple Sclerosis Walk,
supporting treatment and a cure for the
disease she's had for over sixteen years. Prior to moving to Oregon, she was the number one fundraiser for the
Southern California Multiple Sclerosis Walk from 1999 to 2006. Susan and her partner, along with their two lovable Labrador Retrievers and
three sparring cats, live near the Willamette River in Eugene, Oregon.
From the August 2007 Newsletter of Winning Writers:
"Susan Keith's poem "Tombstones" will appear in a forthcoming issue of the minnesota review.
Her poem "Chronicles from the Land of Maybes" has been accepted by Wordgathering, an online
journal of creative writing about disability, for their September issue. Ms. Keith won first prize in the
2006 Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse
and second prize in the
2007 Tom Howard/John H. Reid Short Story Contest."
From the July 15, 2007 Press release from
PR Web Press Release Newswire:
"Second prize of $800 went to Susan Keith of Eugene, Oregon for her memoir "Visiting My Father's Office", a tribute to a father
whose modest exterior masked a remarkable life of service to his community. The judges said, "Maturity and understanding are
not only engagingly revealed in the unfolding of this remembrance, but the language Ms. Keith employs always remains admirably
clear and natural."
Ms. Keith also earned two Most Highly Commended awards of $100 for the political satire "Labor of Love Day, 2005"
and the story "Magnolia", about a child's first encounter with racism and betrayal. Elana Bregin of Durban,
South Africa won third prize and $400 for "They", a science-fiction tale combining lyrical imagery with a searing
indictment of our cruelty to animals in the name of scientific research. The judges said, "The horror of the story's
central situation seems more insidious because it is never fully revealed but strikingly cloaked by incidents that
are themselves terrifying. The conflict of science and humane rationality is effectively deepened by beautifully
chosen, almost poetic, language."
Read the review in PR Web Press Release Newswire
after winning 1st Prize in the Margaret Reid Poetry Contest. Here is an excerpt: "Keith's moving poem is a
first-person narrative in the voice of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, in which the legendary First Lady looks back on the hopes
and ideals that were tragically cut short by John F. Kennedy's assassination. Keith breathes new life into these familiar
details by making the reader feel Jackie's quiet strength and deep devotion to her husband. The judges said, "The title is
aptly chosen for this engrossing presentation of historical detail about a feminine icon of courage. Deftly utilizing a
first-person narrative, the poet discusses with honesty, clarity, yet latent sympathy,
the progression of events that molded the public life of Jackie Kennedy Onassis."
Susan was profiled 9/15/06 on the
Southern California Multiple Sclerosis Society Website after winning 1st Prize in the Margaret Reid Poetry Contest.
At the 2004 Southern California Multiple Sclerosis Society Meeting, Susan was awarded the
Grisanti Trustee of the Year Award honoring her reign as the MS Walk champion for the last four years
raising more than $160,000.
