Suzanne Edison, MA, MFA

Poet • Educator

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Available to Teach Writing Workshops for Caregivers, Patients, Medical Providers

I am available to teach expressive writing and/or narrative medicine workshops for anyone caring for or living with an ongoing health issue of any sort. (Could also include a visual art component.)

I have nearly 20 years experience in this field, having pioneered some of these writing workshops at Seattle Children’s Hospital, University of California San Francisco Wellness Center for Chronic Conditions, and Richard Hugo House in Seattle to name a few. I also co-chair the Narrative Medicine workgroup at CARRA (Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Association) with Dr. Lanis Levy. I have led workshops for the Cure JM Foundation, the Scleroderma Foundation, Global Genes organization, Virginia Mason Hospital Integrative Medicine Conference, and others. I have been the recipient of artist grants to teach writing/poetry to teens and adults, to medical providers, caregivers and those living with ongoing health issues, and to publish both their writings, visual art, and my own writing.

Workshop Options:

  • 2-3 hours includes readings, writing prompts, time to write, time to share
  • 1.5 hours includes writing prompts, time to write, Visual Art, some sharing time.

Workshop structure is flexible for small groups (5-15 people) or large groups (20-50 people).

Contact me for more information: se*********@***il.com

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Workshop Opportunities: FREE

I will be teaching two workshops online and they are free. Global Genes is sponsoring these and they are open to anyone who is a caregiver of a child living with a chronic illness.

Coping Skills for Caregivers to Help Kids Living with a Chronic Illness—April 11, 12 noon PDT / 3 pm EDT

Everything changes for the whole family when a child is diagnosed with a chronic illness. Learn how you can help kids manage appointments, big emotions & social relationships. Learn when it is important to get extra, outside help and support and remember, siblings will also need understanding and support. We will touch on anxiety and depression, recognizing it and finding help.

Registration here.

Coping Skills for Caregivers–May 9, 12 noon PDT / 3 pm EDT

Everything changes for the whole family when a child is diagnosed with a chronic illness.  You need to “fill your own well” in order to keep helping others. Learn how to assess what you need as a caregiver and how to help yourself while helping others.

Registration here.

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All things Books, Poems, Teaching/Workshops etc.

Book cover with teal background and a face mask collage

Dear Arthritis: A Conversation

Dear Arthritis is the newest addition to books about illness and healing.  Sponsored in part by a grant from 4Culture of King County and The Arthritis Foundation, it was the result of a workshop that I provided with writing prompts, in tandem with my collaborator, visual artist Carol Rashawanna Williams. The recipients were families who have a child or young adult living with juvenile arthritis. They wrote Dear Arthritis letters based on the prompts I gave them to help them describe what it is like living with JA or caring for someone, or being a sibling to someone, with JA. Carol then offered them a wealth of art materials from which they could make super hero masks; eg. images that reflect what helps them cope with JA. The book can be purchased here.

WORKSHOP/READING

On February 3rd, 2024 I offered a free writing workshop at Book Tree in Kirkland, WA based on the theme illness and healing. 15 wonderful people (mostly poets) engaged with the writing and visual prompts to produce poems and drafts of their own. This was followed by a reading of my work from Since the House is Burning and The Body Lives Its Undoing, as well as a wonderful reading from Tamara Kaye Sellman from her book Intention Tremor. Tamara lives with multiple sclerosis and writes in many forms: (fiction, poetry, journalism) about her life and other topics.

POEMS

“Owl” was published in the Whale Road Review.

A recent poem of mine, “Imagined Conversation with My Daughter After Roe v. Wade Is Struck Down” was a finalist in the narrative poetry contest of the Naugatuck River Review and the journal can be purchased here.

“All Night I Wrestle” is forthcoming from Lily Poetry Review.

CONTACT ME!

And because it’s been so long since I’ve written a blog post or updated my website, feel free to contact me with any questions about teaching workshops, poetry in the world, or just to say hello. I’ll be busy doing these things but always welcome emails. se*********@***il.com

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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