Susan Landgraf
Susan Landgraf has published more than 400 poems in Prairie Schooner, Poet Lore, Margie, Nimrod, Third Wednesday, SWWIM, CALYX, Rattle, and others. Books include Journey of Trees published by The Poetry Box; Crossings published by Ravenna Press as part of its Triple series; The Inspired Poet from Two Sylvias Press; what We Bury Changes the Ground from Tebot Bach; Other Voices from Finishing Line Press; and Student Reflection Journal for Student Success published by Prentice Hall.
An Academy of American Poets Laureate award in 2020 resulted in a book of Muckleshoot Indian Tribe poetry titled A Muckleshoot Poetry Anthology: At the Confluence of the Green and White Rivers published by Washington State University Press in 2024.
Landgraf has given more than 150 workshops and readings in the US and abroad, including the Port Townsend Writers’ Conference, San Miguel Writers’ Conference, Marine and Science Technology Center, and Antioch International, Oxford, England. She is the recipient of a Theodore Morrison Scholarship for Bread Loaf and grants from Artist Trust, Jack Straw, and King County Arts Commission.
A former journalist, she taught at Highline College for 30 years and at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. She served as Poet Laureate of Auburn, Washington, from 2018 to 2020.
Out of a Land of Alkali & Chromate: $19.99
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Excerpt from Out of a Land of Alkali & Chromate
Recipe for Making a Day
I sip my coffee with a few cashews and apricots. Joy Harjo says the world begins at the kitchen table. I thank those who have cooked for me. Think about that first brave soul who ate an artichoke. A pomegranate. Oyster. Lots of leafy greens for lunch paired with tomatoes, black beans, and avocado. I write a love poem using the words spheres and Nirvana. Plan a celebration of p’s for the week: peaches, persimmons, pears, pomegranates, pepitas, and peas, and watch a slug enjoying one of my lettuce leaves. This leads me to clear a trail through my forest of worries. I’m Zen-like. Chop wood. Carry water. Once a lover of baseball, I repeat: Build it and they will come. I decide on oysters or salmon for dinner. Depend on my intuition.
