Susan L. Leary
Visiting Poet
Susan L. Leary’s latest poetry chapbook SENTENCE combines the blistering scrutiny of documentary poetics with the tenacious love of a sister. Leary’s brother wrote journal entries during the 90 days he spent in county jail for addiction-related offenses, with the intention of creating a book together. Left with the gift and the challenge of this archive, SENTENCE explores the merging of self and the surreal claustrophobia of incarceration. Eugenia Leigh, who selected SENTENCE as the winner of the 2025 Nine Syllables Press chapbook contest, says, “The taut, rigorous poems in Leary’s SENTENCE capture both the held breath and the sharp, everlasting exhale of grief.”
Leary is the author of five previous poetry collections, including More Flowers (Trio House Press, 2026); Dressing the Bear (Trio House Press, 2024), selected by Kimberly Blaeser as the winner of the Louise Bogan Award; and the chapbook, A Buffet Table Fit for Queens (Small Harbor Publishing, 2023), winner of the Washburn Prize. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in such places as North American Review, Indiana Review, Third Coast, Cream City Review, Diode Poetry Journal, Smartish Pace, The Arkansas International, and Verse Daily. She holds an M.F.A. from the University of Miami and lives in Indianapolis, IN.
Susan L. Leary will read on Tuesday, December 1 at 7 p.m. with Selma Asotić, followed by a conversation with Adrie Rose. Note: this reading will be virtual-only, on Zoom. Registration is required, but the event is free and open to the public.