As per Laura's request, here's a bit of information . . . my name's Susan
Palwick and I'm an assistant professor of English at the University of
NV, Reno, where I teach primarily creative writing (with the occasional
lit course thrown in). I'm also a feminist and a writer; I've published
one novel (Flying in Place) which is a feminist ghost story about child
abuse -- and alas! out of print -- and I'm working on a second novel
which is under contract to Tor Books. I've also published a number of
stories, including a novella called "GI Jesus" (in Starlight 1, ed.
Patrick Nielsen Hayden) which was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award
this year, and which is also very strongly feminist.
In addition to creative writing, feminisim and sf/f, my academic interests
include 19th century women's writing and trauma narrative. This spring
I'll be giving two papers which may be of interest to people on the list;
at the 7th Annual Cultural Studies Symposium ("Violence Incorporated") in
Manhattan, Kansas in March, I'll be discussing Anne Rice's "Exit to Eden"
as a fascinating but flawed attempt to construct a sexual utopia, and at
the PCA conference in April I'll be giving a paper on the relationship
between history, fantasy and physical illness in Connie Willis' "Lincoln's
Dreams" and Geoff Ryman's "Was." Oh, yeah, and this spring I'll be
teaching an American lit seminar contrasting works of American realism
with works of fantasy published the same year (Sister Carrie and the
Wizard of Oz in 1900, Native Son and Slan in 1940, Irving's Setting Free
the Bears and The Last Unicorn in 1968, Kingsolver's Animal Dreams and
Morrow's City of Truth in 1990). The point of the course will be to look
at how apparently disparate texts nonetheless reflect shared cultural
concerns.
Well, that's probably a LOT more than anybody wanted to know. <g> I'm
glad to be on the list and have enjoyed what I've read here. Thanks for
listening!
Cheers,
Susan
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