Suzanne Edison, MA, MFA

Poet • Educator

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Town Hall-2019 The Body Lives Its Undoing

The Body Lives Its Undoing

I had not realized that Town Hall Seattle made a recording of the event I presented in September 2019 (a few months before COVID unleashed itself on the world), but here is a link to that reading and interactive event.

My recent 4Culture grant will expand on this project, now called The Kaleidoscope of Autoimmune Diseases.

In September 2019, I spent 2 weeks at Hedgebrook Women Writers Retreat later outlining my thoughts for it.

It’s been almost 3 years since inception and it will be a long pregnancy with this book project, but I hope you all will follow along with me. I’ll post periodic updates.

Partial Mind Map

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March 2022- Autoimmune Awareness Month

I somehow missed this shout out about some of my work by TAB journal in March. The Body Lives Its Undoing, a book of poems (by me) and visual art by others, is still available. All proceeds go to The Benaroya Research Institute.

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Interview: Health Central–Expressive Writing for Caregivers

I am grateful to Anna Kaufman for this interview opportunity.

My workshops at UCSF are open to any parent with a child living with an ongoing mental or physical health issue.  Contact Bhupinder Nahal at UCSF for registration information. Bhupinder.Nahal@ucsf.edu

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Kaleidoscope: A Multi-disciplinary, hybrid art project investigating Autoimmune Diseases with a focus on healthcare disparities, mental health and women.

Plans are underway for Kaleidoscope, a new project in collaboration with the scientists and artists at The Benaroya Research Institute (BRI). I also collaborated with them on the 2018 publication The Body Lives its Undoing.

 That booklet, a reflection in poetry and visual art about autoimmune diseases and the impact on those living with them, featured BRI researchers and artists, physicians and patients and was an exploration of the world of autoimmunity and an expression of what it means to live with autoimmune disease. In 2019, BRI produced several public events (A Town Hall reading among others,) featuring poetry readings, perspectives from interviewees and a closer look at the artwork.

The vision for Kaleidoscope is broader, a furthering of The Body Lives its Undoing. In collaboration with BRI and other community organizations, I will produce a hybrid book of poetry, essays, and original visual art, with collages involving scientific scans, words etc., on the multifaceted issue of autoimmune diseases, with emphasis on healthcare disparities, mental health and women.

I will conduct writing workshops in underserved communities in the Seattle area with kids living with AI diseases and their caregivers. I will also provide writing workshops for scientists and medical providers researching and caring for those with AI diseases. I’ll use their writings in the book in addition to non-fiction essays and poems by others and myself.

I am the curator, editor, and producer of this book, as well as one of the contributors.

If this project is of interest to you, as a funder or participant, please contact me here, or suzanne.edison@curejm.org.