2008 Woodie Awards
ISU author and professor presents speech in IF on "Women Writers of Idaho"
Tiffany Doherty
Issue date: 4/25/07 Section: News
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Dr. Susan Swetnam, professor of English at ISU, presented a speech on Monday, April 16, on "Women Writers of Idaho" at the Idaho Falls Public Library. One focus of this speech, which Swetnam has delivered before, was the fact that pioneer women contributed to their families' economic wellbeing in more ways than just tending to the home.
Since the beginning of settlement in Idaho, women have written fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. These works include "Runaway," a collection of stories by Mary Clearman Blue, and "Buffalo Coat" by Carol Ryrie Brink.
Swetnam also talked about writers who wrote only for their families or themselves. These women have left documents about their lives and/or their mothers' lives, which give us great insight into the contributions of women to writing.
"I think that academics have a responsibility to share their knowledge with the larger community…talking about western writers is a particular delight, for there are so many good ones, and many people don't know about them," said Swetnam, who gives her speeches under the guidance of the Idaho Humanities Council's speakers bureau.
Swetnam has been a professor at ISU since 1979 after she received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. She teaches many courses, including freshman composition, technical writing, advanced composition and prose analysis, and late nineteenth century literature. She has described her position at ISU and her life in the west as "the perfect fit." Swetnam has a long list of accomplishments, including being named an ISU Distinguished Teacher, a Distinguished Public Servant, and having recently been named an ISU Outstanding Researcher for the third time. She has served on many review boards for the National Endowment for the Humanities, served as chair and program scholar for the Idaho Humanities Council, and was the lead scholar in Idaho for a Smithsonian traveling exhibit on food and culture.
Swetnam has published four books with another one having just been released, and she received an Idaho Library Association prize in 2000 for her first collection of essays entitled "Home Mountains." She's been a Writer in Residence for Washington State's Espy Foundation and does extensive writing for magazines, including Gourmet and Mademoiselle. She recently received two research grants for the summer, one from Humanities/Social Science Research Committee (HSSRC) for work on Idaho writer Grace Jordan's journalism, the other from Idaho Humanities Council (IHC) to do an oral history project on food-ways and culture at the Monastery of St. Gertrude in Cottonwood, Idaho. Swetnam says of the grants "Both of those, I hope, will lead not just to publications but also to additional public presentations …it's so much fun to introduce people to new topics and new books, and to see their enthusiasm."
In her free time, Swetnam enjoys skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, and mountaineering (in the summer of 2006 she climbed 8 peaks). When inside, she is "an avid knitter and cook." She was married for 16 years to Ford Swetnam who was a poet, teacher, and mountaineer, until his death in 2002 due to cancer. Swetnam states in her personal narrative that she loves to teach and one of the things she likes most about ISU "is the freedom to pursue one's own academic interests."
If anyone is interested in further exploring Swetnam's work, she is doing a signing for her new book of essays, "My Best Teachers Were Saints," on Saturday, April 28, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Waldenbooks in the Pine Ridge Mall, in Chubbuck.
Since the beginning of settlement in Idaho, women have written fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. These works include "Runaway," a collection of stories by Mary Clearman Blue, and "Buffalo Coat" by Carol Ryrie Brink.
Swetnam also talked about writers who wrote only for their families or themselves. These women have left documents about their lives and/or their mothers' lives, which give us great insight into the contributions of women to writing.
"I think that academics have a responsibility to share their knowledge with the larger community…talking about western writers is a particular delight, for there are so many good ones, and many people don't know about them," said Swetnam, who gives her speeches under the guidance of the Idaho Humanities Council's speakers bureau.
Swetnam has been a professor at ISU since 1979 after she received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. She teaches many courses, including freshman composition, technical writing, advanced composition and prose analysis, and late nineteenth century literature. She has described her position at ISU and her life in the west as "the perfect fit." Swetnam has a long list of accomplishments, including being named an ISU Distinguished Teacher, a Distinguished Public Servant, and having recently been named an ISU Outstanding Researcher for the third time. She has served on many review boards for the National Endowment for the Humanities, served as chair and program scholar for the Idaho Humanities Council, and was the lead scholar in Idaho for a Smithsonian traveling exhibit on food and culture.
Swetnam has published four books with another one having just been released, and she received an Idaho Library Association prize in 2000 for her first collection of essays entitled "Home Mountains." She's been a Writer in Residence for Washington State's Espy Foundation and does extensive writing for magazines, including Gourmet and Mademoiselle. She recently received two research grants for the summer, one from Humanities/Social Science Research Committee (HSSRC) for work on Idaho writer Grace Jordan's journalism, the other from Idaho Humanities Council (IHC) to do an oral history project on food-ways and culture at the Monastery of St. Gertrude in Cottonwood, Idaho. Swetnam says of the grants "Both of those, I hope, will lead not just to publications but also to additional public presentations …it's so much fun to introduce people to new topics and new books, and to see their enthusiasm."
In her free time, Swetnam enjoys skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, and mountaineering (in the summer of 2006 she climbed 8 peaks). When inside, she is "an avid knitter and cook." She was married for 16 years to Ford Swetnam who was a poet, teacher, and mountaineer, until his death in 2002 due to cancer. Swetnam states in her personal narrative that she loves to teach and one of the things she likes most about ISU "is the freedom to pursue one's own academic interests."
If anyone is interested in further exploring Swetnam's work, she is doing a signing for her new book of essays, "My Best Teachers Were Saints," on Saturday, April 28, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Waldenbooks in the Pine Ridge Mall, in Chubbuck.
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