Suzi Wizowaty

Suzi Wizowaty was born in Ohio in 1954, grew up mostly in Texas and Europe (Lausanne, Paris, Madrid), and currently lives in Burlington, Vermont, with her partner of thirty-three years, an old dog and two young cats.

She went to Princeton University in 1971 but left in the middle for two years to live in a Zen house in San Francisco, where she also studied voice with "Herr Otto" and attended the S.F. Opera several times a week, standing in the back. She finally graduated from Princeton with a BA in anthropology in 1977 and set off for the University of Chicago/​Meadville Seminary for graduate school with the idea of becoming a Unitarian minister, but dropped out mid-semester to pursue a different spiritual and intellectual path. Some years later (1985) she earned a master's from Goddard instead, in Jewish Feminist Studies and Creative Writing.

She has spent her professional life working in some way or other with books and ideas. She has run a bookstore, written for a newspaper, edited college publications, and worked as a program and outreach librarian. She served as the Vermont Humanities Council's program director for nearly five years and worked with Vermont Works for Women as associate director.

Around the edges, she has taught writing since 1985. Aside from one temporary, full-time stint at Goddard, she has worked exclusively as an adjunct instructor, to both traditional college-age students and older adults--at Trinity, Goddard, Burlington, Champlain, and St. Michael's colleges. She has also led hundreds of book discussions through the state's humanities council in public libraries; an annual, 6-session "Literature & Medicine" program in three Vermont hospitals; and regular poetry workshops in several Vermont prisons.

Two of the six novels she has written have been published--The Round Barn and A Tour of Evil (see links at right or above). Of the other four, one won the Sydney Taylor Manuscript Award from the Association of Jewish Libraries in 1985. Another was an autobiographical novel for young adults which she never sent out. Another was a funny, dark adventure for children that still seeks a publisher. The last, finished in December, 2011, seeks a publisher as of this writing.

Her interest in public service evolved out of her experience working in the jails. Getting to know some of the inmates made her question the workings of the criminal justice system: what were we doing locking these people up? When she heard Governor Madeleine Kunin, speaking about her book, Pearls, Politics and Power, talk about the need for more women in government--and describe politics as "public service"--Suzi began thinking about trying to contribute in this way.

Suzi ran for the Vermont House of Representatives in 2008 and won. She served her first term on the health care committee and after being re-elected for a second term moved to the judiciary committee. She has especially appreciated the opportunity to support the legislature's recent focus on reducing recidivism and increasing alternatives to incarceration.

She uses the blog on this site ("Legislature" above) to reflect on legislative issues, often with a more personal slant.