Susan has had a lifelong passion for live performance, the spoken and written word, the natural world and wild places.

In her work as poet, performer, playwrite and educator, she aims to stimulate minds, stir the urge to create and inspire a similar passion in others.

When Susan was six years old, she was asked the usual question about what she wanted to be when she grew up. Her answer? 'I want to travel round the world and write about animals.'

By the time she was eighteen, she’d made it as far as London. After gaining a BA in English Literature and winning the Edmé Manning Prize for the highest first-class degree of that year, she went on to study for an MA, also at London University.

Her first significant travel experiences came when she was awarded a one-year scholarship to study creative writing at the University of Massachusetts, USA and then a Rotary Foundation Scholarship to pursue postgraduate research in drama, specialising in playwriting, at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Once back in the UK, she worked as playwright and workshop facilitator for Something Permanent Theatre Company and won the Daily Express/Classic FM Woman of Tomorrow Arts Award for her writing and educational work.

Next came a stimulating two years on a Leverhulme Trust Fellowship in Australia. Based in Adelaide as a writer and researcher, Susan was awarded Visiting Academic status for the length of her stay.

She has since returned to her native Wales where she works as a full-time writer, performer and tutor of creative writing. She has been invited into membership of Academi in recognition of her contribution to literature in Wales and is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Thanks to a Churchill Memorial Travel Fellowship, Susan recently journeyed through Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland in the footsteps of an intrepid eleventh century female Viking. On her return, she was invited to Buckingham Palace to receive her Fellowship medal.

With the publication of her collection of poetry, Creatures of the Intertidal Zone, inspired by her journey, environmental issues and the wildlife of the arctic and sub-arctic, Susan’s childhood vision of travelling round the world to write about animals seems to have been fulfilled.

REVIEWS

Susan .... showed her amazing confidence, energy, intelligence and great skill as a poet and performer. She is indeed an original. Petersfield Herald

Susan’s…enthusiasm and dynamic reading brought us, as close as one could ever be in autumnal English Bath, right to the heart of…arctic climes…A memorable lunchtime session. I hope Susan can re-visit us and I heartily recommend her book – Michael Withey, Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institute

The poetry expanded our vision.  It was an opening up of our imagination and deepened our understanding of issues around climate change - Shirley Abranches, Membership Officer (Women's Environmental Network)

Creative and visual representation of how important our global effort
needs to be.  Very inspiring! - Laureen Benton, London Groups and Health Officer (WEN)

The poetry performance was lively, thought-provoking and funny. It added an extra special dimension to our event - Kate Metcalf, London Groups Officer (WEN)