Susan Henderson

Fiction Writer

NY
New York US
Twitter/X: 

Author's Bio

Susan Henderson is a Hawthornden International Fellow, a seven-time Pushcart Prize nominee, and the recipient of an Academy of American Poets Award. She is the author of the novels Up from the Blue and The Flicker of Old Dreams, both published by HarperCollins. She judged the 2020 High Plains Book Award for Fiction and was on the judging committee for the 2019 John Leonard Prize. Susan is a lifetime member of the NAACP and the National Book Critics Circle.  She lives in New York and blogs at the writer support group, LitPark.com. Recent YouTube interview: https://youtu.be/WsKXArIen5k

She has recent pieces in The National Book Review and the Elm Leaves Journal 150th Anniversary issue. In March 2022, she'll be a resident at the Vermont Studio Center, and in July 2022, she'll be teaching in-person fiction workshops at the Community of Writers in Olympic Valley, California. 

 

Writers Retreats: 
Literary agent: 
Gail Hochman of Brandt & Hochman Literary

Publications & Prizes

Anthologies:
Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort During the Time of COVID-19 (Central Avenue Publishing, 2020)
,
Not Quite What I Was Planning (Harper Perennial, 2008)
,
The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2008 (Houghton Mifflin, 2007)
,
The Future Dictionary of America (McSweeney's Books, 2004)
Books:
The Flicker of Old Dreams (HarperCollins Publishers, 2018)
,
Up from the Blue (HarperCollins Publishers, 2010)
Journals: , ,
Green Hills Literary Lantern
, ,
North Atlantic Review
, ,
Opium Magazine
,
Other Voices
,
Pittsburgh Quarterly
,
Prizes won: 

2021, One Book Billings selected The Flicker of Old Dreams 

2020, Pushcart Prize nomination for “Quarantine,” published in 1455

2020, Finalist, Edith Wharton Residency at The Mount

2019, High Plains Book Award for Fiction for The Flicker of Old Dreams 

2019, High Plains Book Award for Woman Writer for The Flicker of Old Dreams 

2019, Willa Cather Literary Award for Contemporary Fiction for The Flicker of Old Dreams 

2019, Western Writers of America Spur Award for Western Contemporary Novel for The Flicker of Old Dreams 

2019, Montana Book Award (Honor Book) for The Flicker of Old Dreams 

2019, Hawthornden International Fellow, a residency at Scotland’s Hawthornden Castle, funded by the Drue Heinz Trust
2017, Pushcart Prize nomination for Individual Artist award
2016, Pushcart Prize nomination for Individual Artist award
2016, Pushcart Prize nomination for “Fish with Bent Fins,” published in New World Writing
2016, Pushcart Prize nomination for “Dead Eddie,” published in Elm Leaves Journal
2010, Robert Gray of Shelf Awareness selects Up from the Blue as a Top 10 of 2010
2010, The National Reading Group selects Up from the Blue as a 2010 Great Group Reads
2009, Lojo Foundation full scholarship to attend the Squaw Valley Community of Writers
2006, Pushcart Prize nomination for “Motorhead,” published in Amazon Shorts
2004, Pushcart Prize nomination for “Not So Much Excitement Around Here,” published in The Arkansas Review
2003, Green Hills Literary Lantern Fiction Contest, judged by DeWitt Henry, Honorable Mention for “Only Green Things”
2003, Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation grant
2002, Alsop Review Fiction Contest, First Place for “Spider Girl”
1989, Academy of American Poets Prize
1989, Adamson Award, Poetry, First Place
1989, Adamson Award, Fiction, Honorable Mention
1989, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Personal Essay, First Place

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Toni Morrison, Shirley Jackson, James Baldwin, William Gass, Kent Haruf, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Ellen Gilchrist, John Steinbeck, Nikki Giovanni, Max Porter, Nicole Krauss, Ocean Vuong, Naomi Shihab Nye, Tim O'Brien, Zora Neale Hurston, William Maxwell, Claudia Rankine, and the Brothers Grimm.
What I'm reading now: 
Just Us by Claudia Rankine

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
White
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Born in: 
Palo Alto
Raised in: 
Arlington, VA
Virginia
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Feb 08, 2022