Susan Suntree

Susan Suntree is a poet, performer, and essayist whose work investigates the dynamics of science, art, and spiritual philosophies as they engage contemporary life. She has presented her poetry and performances nationally and internationally and has published her poetry in many journals and anthologies. Her book length non-fiction epic Sacred Sites: The Secret History of Southern California (Univ. Nebraska Press), also released as audio theatre, won the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association Award for Nonfiction, the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award for Poetic Narrative, and a Mellon Foundation Elemental Arts Award. Suntree adapted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a poem that is set as a choral work by award-winning composer Adrienne Albert and frequently performed (A Choral Quilt of Hope: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights). Suntree's books and chapbooks include Eye of the Womb (Power Press) also published in Madrid (Vision Libros) as a bilingual edition, El Ojo de la Matriz;. Tulips (Exiled-in-America Press), a bilingual chapbook of translations of poetry by Spanish poet Ana Rossetti; Rita Moreno (Chelsea House); Wisdom of the East; Stories of Compassion, Inspiration and Love (Contemporary/McGraw Hill) for which the Dalai Lama wrote the foreword. She has published essays and book chapters about feminist and environmental theatre as well as reviews in Poetry Flash and Theatre Journal. Suntree's life-long engagement with environmental and community issues includes creating performances employing giant puppets, poetry, and song to awaken the creative spirit to action on behalf of what is wild, communal, and generous.