| Short Description of Yourself |
The most successful and pleasurable writing comes from being in a state of wonder. Finding that fine balance between will and surrender; between skill and letting the pen run free is when magic happens.
Sometimes in my writing, I feel as if I have no pants on. If I feel comfortable and well-dressed, I know I haven’t been honest enough for the words to matter. Brilliant, out-of-the box mentors such as Donna Morrissey, Sue Reynolds, Pat Schneider, Barbara Turner-Vesselago, and Jack Grapes, have helped me go ‘fearward’ in my writing. By providing feedback that encourages rather than criticizes, The Amherst Writers & Artists method of workshop facilitation has created a safe place for me to develop craft and take creative risks.
As a settler married to an Ojibwe man and with whom I have a son, my experiences with that culture colour much of my work. My novels, creative non-fiction, and short stories, written from a settler point of view, often include Indigenous characters.
|
| Writing Focus or Interests |
Fiction, Creative Non Fiction, Poetry
|
| Professional Skills |
Amherst Writers & Artists writing workshop facilitator, writing mentor
|
| Published Works and Recognitions |
2020: What I Remember is This, runner-up, WOW! Women On Writing Q4 2020 Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest, published online in WOW magazine.
2020: Terminal, flash fiction, published online in Big Whoopie Deal
2018: Drive, 2nd place in K. Valerie Memorial Poetry Contest
2018: Once We Were Sad, 1st place in WOW-Women on Writing’s Creative Non-fiction Essay Contest, published in Wow
2017: Misconception, 1st place in The Writing District’s September short prose competition, published in The Writing District Magazine
2017: The Me of Us, Berlin, 1976 published in Room Magazine, issue 40.2
2017: What the Living Do (novel ~ first two chapters) 1st place in Lazuli Literary Group’s writing contest, published in Azure Magazine’s Winter 2017 issue
2016: Tender Fruit, Winner in 23rd annual Writers’ Union of Canada’s short prose contest.
2015: Misconception, 1st place in Scugog Council for the Arts short prose contest
2015: Running Shoes, flash fiction challenge winner in The Word Weaver
2015: In Response, winner, WCYR’s Poetry and Roses contest
2014: Work Boots on Wall Street, CanWrite! Short Story Competition runner-up:, published in the Canadian Authors Association’s CanWrite! Anthology 2015
2014: Closing Circle and The Soft One, long-listed WCDR prose contest. Published in the Renaissance Anthology 2014.
2014: Second Coming, 2nd place, CAA Leacock Simcoe Erotic Prose Contest
2013: Chicks, 2nd place – Flash Fiction online
2013: Ceremony, Finalist, Poetry and Roses competition
2013: Still Life with Coconut, Runner-up “Freefall Writing Competition”
2012: What’s Left, 1st prize in Whispered Words short prose contest, judged by Antanas Sileika, published in Whispered Words Anthology
2011: Choose the Hammock, short story published in carte blanche literary magazine and submitted to the Journey Prize and Canadian Magazine Awards
2011: 4 short pieces published in Being Unquiet Anthology
|
| Bio |
Winner of The Writers’ Union of Canada’s 2016 short prose contest, Susan Wadds’ short fiction and poetry have been featured in literary journals and anthologies, including Room and carte blanche magazines. The first two chapters of her novel, “What the Living Do,” won Lazuli Literary Group’s writing contest, and was published in Azure’s winter 2017 issue.
A graduate of the Humber School for Writers, Susan is certified in the Amherst Writers and Artists (AWA) method of writing workshop facilitation. She is Past President of the Writers’ Community of Simcoe County (WCSC).
|
