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Susan Straight

スーザン・ストレート

Susan Straight

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1960-10-19 （Riverside, California, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Riverside, California, U.S.

Career

Occupations
Novelist, University professor, Essayist
Active Years
1990-
Affiliations
University of California, Riverside (co‑founder of MFA program, professor)

Education

John W. North High School (attended) / Riverside City College (took classes)
Period: 高校〜（在学中にコミュニティカレッジで授業）
Country: United States
Took classes at Riverside City College while in high school
University of Southern California
Country: United States
Attended on a scholarship
University of Massachusetts Amherst (MFA)
MFA Program for Poets & Writers
Degree: MFA
Period: 〜1984
Year of Graduation: 1984
Country: United States
Received MFA in 1984

Awards

Milkweed National Fiction Prize
1990
Work: Aquaboogie: A Novel in Stories
Organization: Milkweed Editions
Result: Won
National Book Award (Fiction)
2001
Work: Highwire Moon
Category: Fiction
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: Finalist
Lannan Literary Award
2007
Category: Fiction
Organization: Lannan Foundation
Result: Won
Edgar Award (Best Short Story)
2008
Work: The Golden Gopher (short story)
Category: Best Short Story
Organization: Mystery Writers of America
Result: Won
Los Angeles Times Book Prize (Robert Kirsch Award)
2013
Category: Robert Kirsch Award
Organization: Los Angeles Times

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Aquaboogie: A Novel in Stories

1991 Novel (linked stories)

A linked collection of stories set in Riverside, exploring community and familial bonds.

CommunityFamilyRace

Highwire Moon

2001 Novel

An intergenerational family story set near Los Angeles; a National Book Award finalist.

Family historyMovement and homecomingIdentity

A Million Nightingales

2006 Historical novel

A historical novel dealing with the American South and slavery, following a heroine's survival and yearning for freedom.

SlaveryFreedomFemale self-determination

Take One Candle Light a Room

2010 Novel

A story about family and buried secrets where regional history and personal memory intersect.

SecretsMemoryFamily

Between Heaven and Here

2012 Novel

A novel about everyday life, loss, and renewal, focusing on the ties between its characters.

RenewalCommunityLoss

Mecca

2022 Novel 384 pages

A contemporary novel exploring family desires and ethics and the dynamics of a local community.

CommunityMorality and desireFamily conflict

Bibliography

  • Aquaboogie: A Novel in Stories (1991)
  • I Been in Sorrow's Kitchen and Licked Out All the Pots (1993)
  • Blacker Than a Thousand Midnights (1995)
  • The Gettin' Place (1997)
  • Highwire Moon (2001)
  • A Million Nightingales (2006)
  • Take One Candle Light a Room (2010)
  • Between Heaven and Here (2012)
  • Mecca (2022)
  • Bear E. Bear (children's book, 1995)
  • The Friskative Dog (children's book, 2007)
  • In the Country of Women (nonfiction, 2019)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Realism with detailed portrayals of communityEmotionally intimate characterizationStrong sense of regional voice
Recurring Motifs
Family and intergenerational tiesRace and identityLandscapes of California's Inland Empire

Legacy

Susan Straight is known for works set in Riverside and California's Inland Empire, portraying race, family, and memory from a deeply local perspective. She has also contributed as an educator, mentoring younger writers.

Academic Societies

  • University of California, Riverside (faculty)

Archives

  • Library of Congress (authority record)
  • VIAF authority record

Trivia

  • Born and living in Riverside, California.
  • Serves as a professor and was involved in founding the MFA program at UC Riverside.
  • Finalist for the 2001 National Book Award in Fiction for Highwire Moon.
  • Won the 2008 Edgar Award for the short story "The Golden Gopher."
  • Has three daughters.