Category Archives: writing

The Underground Railroad (review)

Posted on November 17, 2016 by susanmsink@gmail.com

Just yesterday I wrote a review of Colson Whitehead’s amazing novel, The Underground Railroad, on Goodreads. And today I hear he won the National Book Award. I actually reviewed two books on Goodreads yesterday. The second was the photographer Sally Mann’s … Continue reading →

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Elena Ferrante Revealed

Posted on October 5, 2016 by susanmsink@gmail.com

In one of my early care packages, my friend Paula sent me all four of “the Neapolitan novels” by Elena Ferrante. The thousands of pages and sprawling story of a friendship between two women was both a wonderful goal and … Continue reading →

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Cancer

Posted on July 3, 2016 by susanmsink@gmail.com

Even after 18 weeks, I am having trouble with a very simple concept: “I have cancer.” I don’t understand what that means. I was desperately searching the web for some positive sign that my sense of taste would come back … Continue reading →

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S is for Susan

Posted on May 18, 2016 by susanmsink@gmail.com

I received an incredible gift this week from my niece Dale and her sixth grade class. Last year I visited her public school in Chicago as a visiting poet. She is in a gifted classroom and these kids have been … Continue reading →

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The Numbers Game

Posted on April 23, 2016 by susanmsink@gmail.com

The most terrifying part of the ovarian cancer diagnosis for me has been the numbers. There are many numbers. It begins with staging. I knew what stage 4 meant as a number, though not why, and when Steve asked, it was … Continue reading →

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Good Girls

Posted on April 12, 2016 by susanmsink@gmail.com

Remember the Billy Joel song “Only the Good Die Young?” I thought that song was a total scandal. How could he say what I somewhere deep thought was true– what scared me most? But it wasn’t there because of Catholicism. I … Continue reading →

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Freeze and Thaw

Posted on March 28, 2016 by susanmsink@gmail.com

It’s maple syrup season here in Central Minnesota. The monks at Saint John’s Abbey have a very large operation, and it’s been a good year. The first year I lived here, I participated actively in the operation, tapping trees, harvesting … Continue reading →

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…and the Beautiful Cut Hair

Posted on March 23, 2016 by susanmsink@gmail.com

My mother sent me this photo and a packet of childhood photos. Wasn’t I a beautiful bald baby? I was bald for a long time. And now I will be bald again. I’m actually not that put out by it. … Continue reading →

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Beautiful uncut hair…

Posted on March 22, 2016 by susanmsink@gmail.com

  One of the poems that has been floating in and out of my head over the past few weeks is Walt Whitman’s part 6 of “Song of Myself,” the multipart poem at the center of his one and only … Continue reading →

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Life Will Break You

Posted on March 17, 2016 by susanmsink@gmail.com

This beautiful broadside is hanging in my bathroom. I see it several times a day. It was made by the artist Rachel Melis at the College of Saint Benedict letterpress studio for the Literary Arts Institute visiting writing series with … Continue reading →

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