Author: Susan Wilson
Susan worked in the City of London for 36 years, in roles ranging from Bilingual Chairman’s PA to Document Production Technician. Following redundancy in 2014 she became her mother’s full-time carer until her death from lung cancer in November 2017 at St. Joseph’s Hospice.
Susan began writing poetry shortly afterwards and joined The St. Joseph’s Writers’ Group (subsequently renamed The Inspired by Grief Writers’ Group) where the bereaved could write poetry, prose and conversations to deal with their emotions of grief and loss. In July 2018 the Group self-published “Good Grief” as a fundraiser. Susan assisted in its design and wrote six of its poems.
Between January and March 2019 she attended a series of workshops at Burley Fisher Books in Dalston, entitled “Regenerate”. The closing event featured guest appearances by Juliet Jacques and Irenosen Okojie and was marked by the publication of “Making Ourselves Up: The Regenerate Reader”. It included four of Susan’s poems. Irenosen Okojie liked Susan’s poems and encouraged her to perform them at open mic nights.
In February and June 2019 Susan was a keynote speaker at two conferences organised by Cerner, an American company active in the healthcare sector. She shared the experience of her mother’s end-of-life care to demonstrate the positive impact of Cerner’s connected information software.
Prior to the pandemic Susan was attending the Hospice’s qigong/mindfulness group, creating her own artwork in their Doodle Group and volunteering in the Chaplaincy Department. She was also performing her poetry at Spineless Authors, a monthly open mic event in East London.
More recently, she has completed a Poetry Masterclass at City Lit in London. Her poems have featured in Snakeskin, and her first chapbook, 'I Couldn't Write to Save Her Life', is published by Dreich.
Contact Susan on: my.three@btinternet.com.