Susan Quist
Novelist, Poet, Security Guard
 Baggy Blue Jumpsuit
Worn by the Author when she was employed as the First Female Weatherization Technician in the
State of Ohio. |
WORK WORK WORKLet's just say, Susan Quist is a one-of-a-kind writer. That's true at this point. And here are a few reasons why: POSITIONS HELD TO MAKE ENDS MEET: legal secretary street peddler seamstress welfare mother farm reporter newspaper editor aide to the elderly traveling hardware salesperson (barn to barn) security guard riding shotgun on an armored truck poet-in-the-schools (Pennsylvania & South Carolina) housepainter -- crew chief weatherization technician general manager of a chamber orchestra writing teacher photographer photo researcher tenant advocate closed caption writer fundraising consultant Given ALL these fascinating distractions and more (like, 30 moves -- east, west, north and south), I somehow managed to complete and publish: one novel for adults (hardcover & paperback); one poetry collection (an edition of 25,000); one short story; one book review; one film review; one series of photo essays for an art museum catalogue. Nope -- I just remembered. I've published TWO short stories. The first was published in The Terrace Park Bulldog when I was 11 years old and won second prize in the local high school writing contest. The second was published in Ms. while I was employed as a housepainter out in Denver. Did I choose to be a housepainter out in Denver? No. One day I interviewed for three jobs: fundraiser for the Denver Art Museum, housepainter, and cocktail waitress. I had a kid to support and took the first job I was offered. I changed clothes in the car and thought it was funny, how you can change roles with a change of clothes. A few years later I completed an investigative report on global ozone depletion for the U.S. Senate. Now there's more work in the works -- more poetry, novels for grownups and stories for kids, a play, a film script, a book of creative non-fiction. In the meantime, if you like Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, Grace Paley, Nellie Bly, Lenny Bruce, chances are you'll like my work. Confessions of the Lone Ranger
Ms. Magazine, April 1980 "This title arrived out of a clear blue sky. It isn't every day you see something like that written in the heavens. Hoping it was a message from god, I watched and waited..." NOTE: When this story appeared on newstands, I was employed as a housepainter out in Denver. INDECENT EXPOSURE
I am still in the afterglow of reading Susan Quist’s Indecent Exposure... James Reidel Under Exposure: A Note on the Work of Susan Quist ON THE WAY TO THE CLAP CLINIC
on the way to the clap clinic I stepped across a smoldering molotov cocktail. . . |
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