Susan Mitchell (born 1944) is an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wr ...

, essayist and translator who wrote the poetry collections ''Rapture'' and ''Erotikon''. She is a recipient of the

Lannan Literary Award for Poetry The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...

Life

Mitchell grew up in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and now lives in

Boca Raton Boca Raton ( ; es, Boca Ratón, link=no, ) is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It was first incorporated on August 2, 1924, as "Bocaratone," and then incorporated as "Boca Raton" in 1925. The population was 97,422 in the ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

. She has a B.A. in English literature from

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficia ...

, an M.A. from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, and was a PhD student at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

. She has taught at Middlebury College and Northeastern Illinois University, and currently holds the Mary Blossom Lee Endowed Chair in Creative Writing at

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Fort Pierce. FAU belongs to the 1 ...

. She has published poems in literary journals and magazines including ''The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The American Poetry Review, The New Republic,'' Ploughshares, and ''The Paris Review.'' Her poems have also been included in five volumes of

The Best American Poetry ''The Best American Poetry'' series consists of annual poetry anthologies, each containing seventy-five poems. Background The series, begun by poet and editor David Lehman in 1988, has a different guest editor every year. Lehman, still the general ...

and two Pushcart Prize volumes.''Ploughshares'' > Authors & Articles > Susan Mitchell Bio
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Awards

She has been recognized for her work by notable organizations such as the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federa ...

, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the

Lannan Foundation The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...

. Her collection, ''Rapture,'' won the

Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award The Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Awards are a pair of American prizes based at Claremont Graduate University. They are given to poets for their collections of poetry written in the English language, by a citizen or legal resident alien of the U ...

and was a

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The N ...

finalist.

Published works

*''Erotikon'' (HarperCollins, 2001) *''Rapture'' (HarperPerennial, 1992) *''The Water Inside the Water'' (

Wesleyan University Press Wesleyan University Press is a university press that is part of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The press is currently directed by Suzanna Tamminen, a published poet and essayist. History and overview Founded (in its present fo ...

, 1983)

Honors and awards

* 1993

* 1992

Lannan Literary Award The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...

for Poetry * 1982 NEA Literature Fellowship in Poetry * 1992

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

References

External links

HarperCollins > Author Page > Susan Mitchell Bio

Review: ''Ploughshares'' Review by Diann Blakely of ''Rapture''

* ttps://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/16/books/books-in-brief-poetry-649058.html Review: ''The New York Times'' > ''Books in Brief: Poetry'' > Sunday, April 16, 2000 > Review by Melanie Rehak of ''Erotikon''
Poem: Library of Congress > ''Poetry 180: A Poem a Day for American High Schools'' > ''The Dead'' by Susan Mitchell

Online Copies of Susan Mitchell's Poems

''"The Aviary" excerpt''

''"Children's Ward: New York Hospital"''

''"Havana Birth"''

''"Night Music"''

''"Pussy Willow (An Apology)"''

''"Wind/Breath, Breath/Wind"''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Susan 1944 births Living people Florida Atlantic University alumni Columbia University alumni Georgetown University alumni Northeastern Illinois University faculty Middlebury College faculty American women poets National Endowment for the Arts Fellows Writers from New York City Poets from Florida American women academics Florida Atlantic University faculty Wellesley College alumni 21st-century American women