Susie Taylor (she/her) is a queer writer. Born in England, Taylor grew up in Ontario and received a B.A. in Fine Arts from the University of Guelph in 2000. She moved to St. John’s, Newfoundland in 2002 and now lives in the ex-urban community of Harbour Grace where she has been since 2008.
Her writing career began in 2015 when she won the 2015 NLCU Fresh Fish award for emerging writers. That manuscript was published in 2019 by Breakwater Books titled Even Weirder Than Before. In 2020, this book was chosen as the book for the CBC NL Radio Morning Show’s pandemic book club. It was the winner of American Book Fest Best Book Award, for LGBTQ Fiction,and received the Bronze Medal from the IPPY Awards in the LGBT+ Fiction Category.
Since 2015, Taylor’s short stories have appeared in Geist, Prism International, The Fiddlehead, Room Magazine, Riddle Fence and elsewhere. In 2020, she was the second runner-up for PRISM International’s Jacob Zilber Award for Short Fiction for her story “Vigil”; in 2018, she received an honourable mention in the Leaside Fiction Prize (Riddle Fence) for the short story “Junior Choir”; in 2017, she shortlisted twice, and won second place in Room Magazine’s Fiction Contest for the story, “Dryden, The End of August 1995”; and, in 2016, she was the winner of the Leaside Fiction Prize, for the short story “That Running Girl”.
In 2019, Taylor was the winner of the Lawrence Jackson Writers’ Award from Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council and The Lawrence Jackson Trust Fund. She is a three-time recipient of Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters Awards.
She lives with her partner, dog, and four cats. When she isn’t writing, she is out running.
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Books
2019 even weirder than before, Breakwater Books, St. John’s, NL
Publications
2021 “Do You Know Who I Am, B’y?”, short story, Geist Issue 118, Vancouver, BC
2020 “Vigil”, short story, PRISM International Issue No. 58.4, Vancouver, BC
2020 “Stevie Dies Twice”, short story, The Fiddlehead Issue No. 283, Fredericton, NB
2019 “After”, short story, RAWSIY II Anthology, Toronto, ON
2019 “Excerpt from even weirder than before”, novel excerpt, Geist Issue 113, Vancouver, BC
2019 “We Smoke our Smokes” short story, Geist Issue 110, Vancouver, BC
2018 “Junior Choir”, short story, Riddle Fence Issue no. 31, St. John’s NL
2018 “Malcontent”, short story, untethered Vol. 4.2, Toronto, ON
2018 “Dryden, The End of August 1995”, short story, Room Magazine Issue No. 41.1, Vancouver BC
2018 “Behind the Dumpsters”, short story, The Impressment Gang, Volume 4.0, Halifax NS
2017 “The Third Day of Spring”, poem, PULP Literature Issue no. 13, Victoria BC
2016 “That Running Girl”, short story, Riddle Fence Issue no. 25, St. John’s NL
2016 “After the Blood Test”, short story, Riddle Fence Issue no. 24, St. John’s NL
2016 “Excerpt from Dispelling the Myths”, novel excerpt, Riddle Fence Issue no. 22, St. John’s NL
Awards and Grants
2020 Professional Project Grant (Established) Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council
2020 PRISM International Jacob Zilber Award for Short Fiction, 2nd Runner Up, for the short story “Vigil”
2019 Research and Create Grant, Canada Council for the Arts
2019 Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters Award, Short Fiction, for the story “Things I Miss #12” (NL Department of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation)
2018 Research and Create Grant, Canada Council for the Arts
2018 Leaside Fiction Prize honourable mention, for the short story “Junior Choir” (Riddle Fence)
2018 The Writers’ Union of Canada 25th Annual Short Prose Competition for Developing Writers finalist, for the story “Things I Miss # 12”
2018 Professional Project Grant (Emerging) Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council
2018 Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters Award, Nonfiction, for the piece, “An Inconvenient Heart” (NL Department of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation)
2017 Room Magazine Fiction Contest second prize, for the story “Dryden, The End of August 1995” (Room Magazine)
2017 Room Magazine Fiction Contest Shortlist, for the story “Malcontent” (Room Magazine)
2017 Newfoundland and Labrador Arts and Letters Award, Short Fiction, for the story “At the Cemetery” (NL Department of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation)
2016 Leaside Fiction Prize, for the short story “That Running Girl” (Riddle Fence)
2016 Budge Wilson Short Story Prize Shortlist, for the short story “Recognition” (Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia)
2016 Magpie Award for Poetry Shortlist, for the poem, “The Third Day of Spring” (PULP Literature)
2015 NLCU Fresh Fish Award for Emerging Writers for the manuscript, Dispelling the Myths (Writers’ Alliance of Newfoundland and Labrador)
Readings
2021 Readings at the Ship, St. John’s NL
2019 Authors in Art, Freshwater NL
2019 Word on The Street Halifax, Halifax NS
2019 Winterset in Summer New Voices reading and panel discussion, Eastport NL
2019 Pop-Up Pride Reading and Q and A, St John’s NL
2019 Harbour Grace Library Author Q and A, Harbour Grace NL
2019 Ochre Fest, Ochre Pit Cove NL
2019 Breakwater Spring Launch Party, St. John’s NL
2018 Riddle Fence Issue no. 31 Launch, St. John’s NL
2017 Sparks Literary Festival, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s NL
2016 Riddle Fence Issue no. 24 Launch, St. John’s NL
2016 WANL Spring Tides Reading Series, Bonavista NL (Canada Council funded)
2016 Lawnya Vawnya Exposition of Art and Culture, St. John’s NL
2015 Riddle Fence Issue no. 22 Launch, St. John’s NL
2015 WANL NLCU Fresh Fish Award Readings, St. John’s NL
Education
2001 Open Studio Programme Toronto School of Art, Toronto ON
2000 B.A. in Fine Arts University of Guelph, Guelph ON
