Upcoming Events


The Writing Life
Monday, July 26:
Writing and Livelihood
Fourth Monday of the month,
May through August 2010, 7-8 pm
Community Room, Forbes Library, Northampton, MA

Join me for a drop-in facilitated discussion group for people working on long-term writing projects such as novels, poetry collections, collections of short stories and memoirs.

The Writing Room
Wednesday mornings
9:30-12:30
Watson Room, Mezzanine
Forbes Library, Northampton, MA

Join me for some companionable writing time. 11:45: check-in and announcements. Last half hour: optional reading aloud. No critique. All welcome!

Wednesday October 6, 2010, 7 pm
Novelists and Local History Series Focus:Jonathan Edwards
Kenneth Minkema, Director of the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale
Elise Bernier Feeley, Hampshire Room, Forbes Library
Susan Stinson, novelist and Forbes Writer in Residence
Forbes Library, Northampton MA
First in a series, First Wednesday of the month, October through May

Past Events


Wednesday May 12, 2010, 7 pm
Forbes Library Writer in Residence Reading
Diana Gordon and Susan Stinson
Coolidge Museum
Forbes Library, Northampton, MA

Wednesday, April 21, 7 pm
Coolidge Museum, Forbes Libary
Northampton, MA

Hear a Poet, There a Poet: A Pioneer Valley Anthology
Reading
with editor Lesléa Newman,
Janet Aalfs, Sally Bellerose, Floyd Cheung, Oonagh Doherty, Diana Gordon, Tzivia Gover, Andrea Hairston, Janet MacFadyen, Rich Michelson, Mary Clare Powell, among others.

Saturday, April 17, 2 pm
Reading
Annual Trustees Award
Calvin Coolidge Presidential Museum
Forbes Library, Northampton, MA

April 13. 2010
Guest Lecture
Reading of fiction and poetry
centered on the lives of fat women
Course: Medical Management of the Female Body
Mt. Holyoke College
South Hadley, MA

Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Guest Lecture
Course: Sexuality and the English Novel
Amherst College
11:30-12:40

Monday, October 12, 2009
Interview, The Writer's Voice Radio Show
WMUA; Producer and Host: Francesca Rhiannon

Saturday, October 9, 2009
Millay Colony Reading
with current residents Thomas Smith, Azareen der Vliet Oloomi, Melissa Sandor and Darren Floyd
The Spotty Dog Books and Ale
440 Warren Street
Hudson, NY
6-7 pm

Saturday, October 3, 2009,
10 am
Bridge Street Cemetery Tour
We'll focus on people and stories revelant to the life and times of Jonathan Edwards in Northampton. Come in the entrance on Parsons Street and look for the red tricycle. If you'd like to bring cameras to help document the event, that would be great.

7 pm
First Churches
A reading in honor of the birthday of Jonathan Edwards at the church where he preached in the eighteenth century.

Wed, November 5, 2008, 7 pm
Size Matters
Smith College
Northampton, MA

Reading/​Talk

Conference: Jonathan Edwards on
Beauty in Art, Nature & God

Friday, October 3, 2008
3:30-4:30
reading from Spider in a Tree

Conference, Oct 3-5
Jonathan Edwards Meetinghouse
129 Main Street
Northampton, MA

Full Body Symposium
Saturday, November 3rd, 2007
R. Michelson Galleries
Northampton, MA

Reading as part of a day of events in conjunction with the publication of the Full Body Project Book, photographs by Leonard Nimoy. With Leslea Newman, Abby Ellin and Kelli Dunham.


Discussion of Spider in a Tree
October 10, 2007
Sexuality and History in the Contemporary Novel
Instructor: Judith Frank
Amherst College, Amherst, MA

Jonathan Edwards and the Environment Conference
Reading, Saturday, October 6, 3:20-4:10
Conference October 5-7
First Churches, Northampton, MA

Jonathan Edwards in Europe participant
Karoli Gaspar University
Budapest, Hungary
May 7-9, 2007

Popular Culture in the
Fat Studies Reader with Amy Farrell, Esther Rothblum, 781 Fat Studies IX
Northeastern Room
Sat April 7,2:30-4 pm
Marriot Copley Place
Boston, MA


February 21, 2007
Fat Liberation Workshop, Intro to Cultural Anthropology
11-12:15, Reese building, room 304
Instructor: Chaia Heller
Mt. Holyoke College
South Hadley, MA

October 7, 2006
Reading: 2 pm (events all day)
Jonathan Edwards Conference
First Churches
Northampton, MA

August 11-13, 2006
San Francisco, CA
Reading

Assoc. for Size Diversity and Health Conference
June 23-25, 2006
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH

Smith College, Northampton, MA
Reading and speaking
Sunday, April 9, 12:30-1:30
Davis Ballroom

Smith College, Northampton, MA
Reading
Love Your Body Day
Sat, February 18, 2 pm
Campus Center

Saturday, September 17, 2005, 4pm.
A.P.E. Gallery, 3rd floor Thornes, Main St., Northampton. Toni Brown, Janet Mason, Janet Aalfs, Sally Bellerose, and Susan Stinson.

Cabaret
July 9, 2005, 6 pm
Food for Thought Books
Amherst, MA
106 N.Pleasant Street
Amherst, MA 01002
Tel: 413-253-5432

Out@​Time,Inc,
Wednesday, June 15
with Stacey D'Erasmo, Damian McNicholl and Alison Smith
Time/​Life Building, Manhattan

May 1, 2005 --
Book signing, Northampton Pride Rally
Location: Pride&Joy Booth, Veteran's Field Road, Northampton, MA
Time: 2:30-3

April 28, 2005—Lambda Award Reading —New York
Location: New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center, 208 West 13th St. NW
Time: 7 - 9 p.m.

Thursday, March 17, 7pm
A Different Light Bookstore
489 Castro St.
San Francisco, CA

Tuesday, March 15, 7pm
The Laurel Bookstore
4100 Macarthur Blvd
Oakland, CA

Saturday March 12, 2005:
Writers with Drinks Spoken Word Variety Show
The Make-Out Room 3225 22nd. St., San Francisco CA
7:30-9:30 pm

Sunday, February 13, 2005
Savage Beauties
Benefit for the Millay Colony
Barbes
376 9th St. (corner of 6th Ave.)
Park Slope, Brooklyn
3-6 pm

Services

Cemetery Tours
Talks, Workshops and Readings
Writing Coaching
Editing
Critique
Project Planning

Northampton History Tours

Jonathan Edwards cemetery walking tours.
Coming Soon: Local Women's History
Individuals or Groups

Bridge Street Cemetery, photo: Jody Wheat

Readings, Lectures, Classroom talks, Workshops, Speeches

Jonathan Edwards in Historical Context
18th Century Women's Lives in the Connecticut River Valley
Writing and Researching a Historical Novel
Writing Fiction and Poetry
All of Our Bodies, All of Our Joy: Perspectives on Body Size

Contact me at susan@​susanstinson.net for rates.

Writing and Editing

Books and dissertations.
Essays, reviews, papers, articles, stories.
Appeal letters, grants, reports, cover letters, speeches, book proposals, web content.

Project Planning

Help with developing,sustaining and finishing projects. Designed to help writers set goals, plan projects, identify specific steps, and discover what inspires them to keep working.

Individual sessions of one hour, in person or by phone. Single sessions, weekly or customize a schedule.

Contact me at susan@​susanstinson.net for rates.

What People Say About Working With Susan

Susan is a very fine writer who has also done superb editing on my work and has been sunny, practical and convincing in urging me on.
Nancy Folbre
The Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values (The New Press, nonfiction)
recipient, MacArthur Fellowship

Susan’s expertise and respect for the written word and the writer make her a pleasure to work with. Her editorial skills and creative spark have inspired and improved my writing for over twenty years. She brings the same eloquence, commitment, and hard work evident in her own stunning prose to her collaborations. Susan is a great writer and coach who cares deeply about the work of others.
Sally Bellerose, The Girls Club (Forthcoming, Bywater Books, novel)
Recipient, National Endowment for the Arts literature fellowship

The most exciting thing about Susan as an editor and coach is how good she is at helping me find my own voice. She was great help with my book proposal, and worked with me to create a doable writing plan with clear strategiees for how to accomplish my tasks. I think she’s the best.
Linda Stout
Collective Visioning: Creating the World We Want to Live In (Forthcoming, Berrett-Koehler)

Susan has a special and powerful combination for a writing coach; she points you toward the necessary hard work to be done while cheering on your good work and filling you with inspiration for what lies ahead. I left every session with Susan more energized and resourceful. I was able to write and to revise (never my favorite thing!). I completed long poem cycles and deepened my identity as a writer. I highly recommend working with Susan. You will grow as a writer and you will laugh and enjoy yourself while doing so.
Carolyn Cushing, poet

I've worked with Susan throughout my academic career, from selecting and applying to graduate school to selecting, researching, writing, and completing a doctoral dissertation. Her advice has always been spot-on and her immense writing and editing skills have markedly improved both the dissertation and numerous published articles. But what I most appreciate about Susan is the wide range of her support. She attends not just to the details of my work, but to the vision and passion that inspires it as well, ensuring that both remain vibrant through long haul of long projects. I can't recommend her highly enough.
Lynne Gerber, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley.

Susan has been key in writing successful grants and building better organizations. Her writing and organizational skills are invaluable. She's great at figuring out next steps to move projects forward while keeping an eye on the big picture.
James Heintz, Field Guide to the US Economy


Events


photo: Lynn Ellen Marcus

What people say about an event with Susan

"If you ever get the opportunity to hear author Susan Stinson read, run -- frantically -- and get a good seat. Stinson had the unique gift of taking her lilting, beautiful prose and flowing poetry and caressing the words with her sensuous, exciting voice. I saw her reading recently in San Francisco and was startled by her incredible power to lift her own words from the page, translating them into a stunning, energized performance. Susan Stinson is not just a writer of considerable talent, she is an event." - Icon Magazine, Toronto

"Because of the emotional impact of her work, people grasped the issues more quickly than usual, and talked with great candor about their lives and their feelings." - Miriam Berg, Council on Size and Weight Discrimination

"Stinson almost sings the words, moves to them, makes her hands dance. And by doing this, she breaks taboos...Go hear her, and you will think differently about fat." - Daily Hampshire Gazette

"Susan Stinson articulates all of the emotions and insights of growing up in a fat body, but also charts a path through the wilderness of self-hatred into healing and self-love." - NAAFA Newsletter

"Explicit, liberating, painful and wonderful! I've never heard anything like it." -Stonewall Center, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

"Gorgeously abundant and abundantly gorgeous are the words that come to mind when I think of Susan Stinson and her writing. She is a passionate, powerful and sensual reader, and anyone lucky enough to hear her will never forget her." - Leslea Newman, author

Selected Works

Fiction
Venus of Chalk
This book unravels what you think you know about women and men, the freakish and the normal, shame and salvation -- then mends it anew into a most surprising story. -Alison Bechdel
Martha Moody
I can think of no-one who writes with more love, passion, and precision about the pleasures of the body and the pleasures of the soul, and that nebulous intersection of body and soul. -Elizabeth McCracken
Fat Girl Dances with Rocks
Susan Stinson's first novel is full of big, beautiful language and her main character, Char, is one of the best teenaged heroines I've ever met. -Judith Katz
Excerpt from a novel-in-progress
Spider In a Tree
About Jonathan Edwards, the famous preacher, his family and slaves, during their years in Northampton throughout the Great Awakening.