Susan E. Thurston Hamerski is a writer of prose and poetry. Her work has appeared in many journals and publications, including Minnesota Monthly, Fox Cry Review, Icon, Sidewalks; the anthology Tremors, Vibrations Enough to Rearrange the World; and the chapbook Wild Bone Season.
She has completed a book of recent poems entitled Map of Longing. While her agent is looking for a publisher of her novel Sister of Grendel, Susan is writing short-short fiction, and drafting and noodling around with three other novels. One of them will claim her full attention soon, she hopes.
Her work has earned awards and honors, including a Pushcart Prize nomination, Hart Crane Poetry Award, Lake Superior Writers Series Competition award in poetry, and a finalist in the Loft Children's Literature Contest.
Recently, she co-wrote and co-produced the play Dinner with Medusa, in which she also performed during the 2005 Fringe Festival in Minneapolis.
An administrator in the College of Continuing Education at the University of Minnesota, she has been a crew member for a hobbyist Formula Ford race car driver, journalist, barista in a coffee shop during graduate school at Hamline University, co-owner and operator of a used bookstore, writer of corporate and foundation grant proposals, private college administrator, and teacher of writing. She knows how to milk a cow, pack a hot-air balloon, and fish-tape electrical wiring through walls. She rarely drives the speed limit, and aspires to one day live full-time in a houseboat on the Mississippi River and speak Italian. Her favorite people in the world are daughter Madeleine and son Samuel. She lives with her family and among amazing friends in St. Paul, Minnesota.
She is an avid keeper of a personal journal, and has taught the subject of journal writing frequently.
And no, it does not bother her that the University of Minnesota's mascot is a rodent; she happens to like gophers. Some of them were her friends while growing up on a farm in south-central Minnesota.
Congratulations for having your first poem "Daily I Fall in Love with Mechanics" read and posted on "Writer's Almanac" today.
I live above San Luis Obispo in Atascadero CA. We have a writers group that is inspired by the poems on" Writer's Almanac".
Stop by if you're ever in Central California.
My wife's brother Kirk Butterfield (an RN) and his wife Beth (a writer)
live in St. Paul -- Smart, funny people.
George
Posted by: George Asdel at February 8, 2011 11:33 AMI heard your poem on the Reader's Almanac this evening and I was so impressed with the emotion that was poured into this verse, by the sensual flowing of the words and the implicit analogies. I hurried home and looked up your name and the poem. I was not familiar with Elliot Fried's ".....in Love with Waitresses", so, of course, I looked it up also. I must say that your parody of his poem has a much better flow, almost liquid feeling to it and I love the wonderful subtle analogies. Please advise where I can find more of your writings.
Posted by: Marty at February 8, 2011 9:44 PMI have been browsing online more than 3 hours today, yet I never found any interesting article like yours. It is pretty worth enough for me. In my opinion, if all site owners and bloggers made good content as you did, the web will be a lot more useful than ever... Jayme Strohmayer
Posted by: Jayme Strohmayer at July 8, 2011 2:18 AM