About

Susan J. Wurtzburg retired from an academic career teaching at various universities, most recently the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. She now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, her base for hiking and exploring the world, most ideally, with her human and canine pack.

When outdoor excursions are not on the agenda, she writes, with much of her poetry grounded in the USA and Canada, where she was born, supplemented by verses set in Central and South America, where she worked as an archaeologist. In addition to sense of place, her literary output focuses on gender, ethnicity, and the environment. Given the topics, it is unsurprising that some of these works also deal with various types of oppression, although with optimistic nudges toward activism and improving a somewhat flawed world.

Wurtzburg is delighted to have received first place in the 2024 Land of Enchantment Award (National Federation of State Poetry Societies) for her poem “Blue Skies Beckon,” while her submission “Crows of Hawai‘i” placed first in the Save Our Earth Award (NFSPS).

The previous year, “Threading the Needle” was published in the Naugatuck River Review’s 14th Narrative Poetry Contest issue, achieving semifinalist status. In 2022, “Sweet with a Dash of Salt” was awarded the Elizabeth M. Campbell Poetry Award (National League of American Pen Women). In that same year, she achieved semifinalist status in the Crab Creek Review’s Poetry Competition with “In the Mountains.”

Wurtzburg is involved in poetry in her home community, and contributed as a Community Poet in a Spring 2023 Poetry Workshop, Westminster College, Salt Lake City. She is also a Commissioned Artist in Sidewalk Poetry: Senses of Salt Lake City, 2024. Further afield, Wurtzburg serves as an Associate Poetry Editor with Poets Reading the News.