Susan Power (born 1961) is an American author from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois. Her

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

, '' The Grass Dancer'' (1994), received the 1995 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for Best First Fiction.

Early life and education

Susan Power was born in Chicago, Illinois and is an enrolled member of the

Standing Rock Sioux Tribe The Standing Rock Reservation ( lkt, Íŋyaŋ Woslál Háŋ) lies across the border between North and South Dakota in the United States, and is inhabited by ethnic " Hunkpapa and Sihasapa bands of Lakota Oyate and the Ihunktuwona and Pabaks ...

. Her mother, Susan Kelly Power (Gathering of Stormclouds Woman, in Dakota), is also an enrolled member. Her great-grandmother was Nellie Two Bear Gates. She is a descendant of Sioux Chief ''Mato Nupa'' (Two Bears).Susan Power: Biography and criticism of work
''Voices from the Gap'', University of Minnesota, accessed 24 July 2014 Her father, Carleton Gilmore Power, is of New England Euro-American descent and worked as a salesman in publishing. One of his great-great-grandfathers was governor of New Hampshire. She heard stories that inspired her imagination from both sides. Power attended local schools, then earned her bachelor's degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and a JD from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

Change to writing

After a short career in law, Power decided to become a writer. She worked as a technical writer and editor, reserving her creative writing for off hours. In 1992 she entered the MFA program at the

Iowa Writer's Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative Wri ...

.Caroline Moseley, "'Grass Dancer' evokes past, present"
''Princeton Weekly Bulletin,'' 10 March 1997, accessed 24 July 2014 Her 1994 debut novel, ''The Grass Dancer'', has a complex plot about four generations of Native Americans, with action stretching from 1864 to 1986. The work received the 1995

Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award The PEN/Hemingway Award is awarded annually to a full-length novel or book of short stories by an American author who has not previously published a full-length book of fiction. The award is named after Ernest Hemingway and funded by the Hemingway ...

for Best First Fiction. Power has written several other books as well. Her short fiction has been published in the ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', ''

Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Philip ...

'', '' Voice Literary Supplement'', ''

Ploughshares ''Ploughshares'' is an American literary journal established in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, ''Ploughshares'' has been based at Emerson College in Boston. ...

'',"Susan Power"
''Ploughshares'' ''

Story Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

'', and ''The

Best American Short Stories The Best American Short Stories yearly anthology is a part of ''The Best American Series'' published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Since 1915, the BASS anthology has striven to contain the best short stories by some of the best-known writers in con ...

1993''. She teaches at

Hamline University Hamline University is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded in 1854, Hamline is known for its emphasis on experiential learning, service, and social justice. The university is named after Bishop Leonidas Lent Hamline o ...

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Works

*'' The Grass Dancer'', Putnam, 1994. *''Strong Heart Society'', Penguin, 1998. *''Roofwalker'', Milkweed Editions, 2002. *''Sacred Wilderness'', Michigan State University Press, 2014.

References

External links

Susan Power
Native American Writers Project

''Voices from the Gap'', University of Minnesota {{DEFAULTSORT:Power, Susan 1961 births Living people Native American women writers Harvard Law School alumni Dakota people American writers of Native American descent Harvard University alumni Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni Writers from Chicago Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award winners 21st-century American women 21st-century Native American women 21st-century Native Americans 20th-century Native American women 20th-century Native Americans

Early life and education

Change to writing

Works

References

Further reading

External links