About Susan Rebecca White

“With a surgeon’s delicate precision, White examines sensitive and timely topics.” — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Susan Rebecca White wants to tell better stories.

I’ve been a writer for most of my adult life, having published four novels and a whole bunch of essays. Looking back, I see a stubborn theme: to reexamine the stories that have been handed to me, many of which feel, on so many levels, untrue.

Recognizing the power contained within our inherited narratives, the brilliant writer and public intellectual, Rebecca Solnit, insists: “I want better metaphors. I want better stories. I want more openness. I want better questions.”

So do I.

Our stories are often predictive, meaning, we become the stories we tell (to kinda sorta paraphrase Joan Didion.) So why not attempt to tell better ones? Why not aim for the truest, most capacious narratives possible? And while we’re at it, why not imagine a world that works for all of us and not just a few?


Susan White in a chambray shirt and jeans

The story people tell about me when I’m introduced at book events (though hopefully they tell an edited version for brevity.)

Born and raised in Atlanta, Susan Rebecca White earned a BA in English from Brown University, then moved to San Francisco, where she taught and waited tables for several years, before moving to Virginia to earn her MFA in creative writing from Hollins University, where she was a teaching fellow and the recipient of the James Purdy prize for outstanding fiction.

Susan’s debut novel, Bound South, received wide critical acclaim and was shortlisted for the Townsend Prize. Bound South was followed by A Soft Place to Land, also critically acclaimed and a Target “Club Pick.” Susan’s third novel, A Place at the Table was a finalist for the and a Target “Club Pick.” The American Booksellers Association included A Place at the Table on its “Indie Next List” and the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) selected A Place at the Table as a 2013 Summer “Okra Pick.” Susan’s latest, We Are All Good People Here, was on the August 2019 Indie Next List and received all sorts of lovely praise. Of it, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said, “With a surgeon’s delicate precision, White examines sensitive and timely topics such as race, gender inequality, sexual abuse, religion and sexuality.

Susan has been invited to festivals and book events around the country and has been a speaker at numerous academic and cultural institutions, including SCAD Atlanta, the Carter Center Library, the Margaret Mitchell house, Birmingham’s Hoover library, and the Oliver Wolcott Library in Litchfield, Ct. Her essays and nonfiction have been featured in places such as Slate, The LA Review of Books, Tin HouseSalon, The Bitter Southerner, Salvation South, and Atlanta magazine. She currently lives in Atlanta, where she has taught creative writing at Emory, SCAD Atlanta, and Mercer University. Susan is married to Sam Reid, also an Atlanta native. They have one son and three cats.

Contact

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We Are All Good People Here – Simon And Schuster