Sue Sutherland-Hanson

I  grew up in a fishing family in Port Townsend, a small town shored by the Puget Sound and the Straits of Juan de Fuca.  I hold a Bachelor of Arts in French Literature and a MA in Teaching English to Students of other Languages (ESL).  I taught for thirty years at Edmonds Community College and fell in love with the spice of international diversity, the brilliance of the human brain, and a deepening love for languages.  When I turned 50, I went to a low residency Quaker seminary.  There I focused on the sacred texts, theology, stories, practices and the arts that explored questions about the mystery of the mystical in human life and how we relate to ourselves, each other, the ancients, the earth, the universe, and the Divine.

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Over the years my poems have appeare in journals such  Between the Lines, Chrysanthemum Press, Poetry Corners, Ars Poetica, and Floating Bridge Press.  In 2014 I co-authored a book of poetry called An Invitation to Openness - Poems for Individuals and Communities Seeking the Sacred in the Present Moment.  Every writer should have the joyful experience of writing and publishing a book with a generous co-author like Kimberly Beyer-Nelson (now Kimberly Nunnely) who showed me the ropes and shared her amazing completion energy.

 

For writing other than poetry, I got a taste of journalism as a featured blogger for Spirited Women , for whom I wrote a weekly post on Creativity in 2013.  I also won honorable mention from Townsend Press for an essay, The Adventures of Teaching English.  

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When I am not writing or teaching workshops on topics like writing as a listening practice, sacred creativity, the wisdom of the body, or Celtic spirituality, I am enjoying the outdoors in the Pacific Northwest, leading groups on pilgrimage overseas, playing with my grand-children, or officiating weddings.  

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Life is a  mix of wild, gorgeous, painful, monotonous and breath-taking experience.  I want to be grateful every single day for the gift of existance... not as a 'test' but as an intention.  Life deserves that.