suziqsmith

Suzi Q. Smith is an award-winning author, artist, educator, and organizer who lives in Denver, Colorado. While primarily known for her poetry, Suzi is also a singer-songwriter, playwright, and interdisciplinary creative. She has created, curated, coached, and taught for over 20 years, touring throughout the United States.

AUTHOR

Suzi Q. Smith is the author of poetry collections. Poems for the End of the World, A Gospel of Bones (winner of the 2019 Electric Press Award), and the chapbook collection, Thirteen Descansos. In 2023, she was a writer in residence at Chateau d’Orquevaux in France while she worked toward completing her first memoir.

EDITOR

Suzi Q. Smith is the Lead Editor for Creative Nonfiction for Revolute! Literary Magazine. Suzi is also the co-editor of two anthologies, Tell It Slant: An Anthology of Creative nonfiction by Writers from Colorado’s Prisons and All the Lives We Ever Lived, Volume I, both Finalists for the Colorado Book Award. She served as the Poetry Editor for Denver Syntax from 2006-2008.

INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTIST

Suzi Q. Smith has curated exhibits with Denver Art Museum, been featured in the Museum of Contemporary Art, and has served as the Poet in Residence at Crystal Bridges Museum.

MUSIC

Suzi Q. has been featured in print, on numerous television and radio programs, and her poetry has been sampled and remixed all over the world. Her single Moments, in collaboration with Psy’Aviah, received International attention after being a finalist in the BBC’s ‘Next Big Thing’ contest. She co-wrote and is featured on Flobots’ 2017 single, Sleeping Giant. She was also a founding member Lady Wu-Tang Clan, members to sold-out audiences around the region sharing stages with Raekwon and Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan.

https://www.reverbnation.com/control_room/artist/1322250/songs

THEATER

Suzi Q. co-wrote the dramatic production How I Got Over: Journeys in Verse, the first and only production at the Denver Center written, performed, and directed by Black women. She also co-wrote and directed Where We Are From: Freedom is a Constant Struggle, produced by 5280 Coop.

EDUCATOR

As an educator, Suzi has worked extensively with both youth and adult students. Recipient of the 2023 Beacon Award for Excellence in Teaching, she is currently a Faculty member with Lighthouse Writers Workshop and Regis University’s Mile High MFA. Further, she has designed and led writing courses with DU Prison Arts Initiative, Youth On Record, and many more. Suzi also served as a coach and mentor with Denver Minor Disturbance Youth Poetry Slam, resulting in two international championships in 2012 and 2013. Suzi regularly designs and offers independent courses using creative writing as a tool for self-discovery. Learn more about these offerings here.

ORGANIZER

Recipient of the Denver Foundation Swanee Hunt Leadership Award in 2018, Suzi has worked with arts and cultural organizations for over 25 years, in Denver and around the U.S. She began her career working with a civil rights organization and has since partnered with countless community organizations and nonprofits.

Her career began community organizing with the Urban League of Metro Denver. Later, she went on to work with Brother Jeff’s Cultural Center, working on the Proactiv for a Change conference in 2000, and later the Pan African Arts Society, supporting Café Nuba and the annual Pan African Film Festival, and eventually launching Slam Nuba in 2006 as the first “slammaster”.

She served as Executive Director of Poetry Slam, Inc. for four years. As the Executive Director, her commitment to intersectional racial justice, creating safe(r) spaces for all marginalized peoples, and creating communities of care as well as policies and practices for restorative justice were all key initiatives. The national and International affiliates nearly doubled, while the organization’s individual membership increased three-fold in her tenure.

In 2018, her focus returned to local organizing in Denver, working with Lighthouse Writers Workshop to establish the first writing retreat for writers of color in Colorado’s history. She also co-created the Writing In Color program, which continues to host readings and monthly meetups for writers of color. In 2019, she partnered with The Word: A Storytelling Sanctuary to co-create the first [margins.] conference for writers of color, LGBTQIA+ writers, and writers with disabilities, focused on navigating the publishing industry.

Suzi Q. has also worked extensively as an organizer with other civil rights organizations, advocacy organizations, arts organizations, peace organizations, hospitals, prisons, and many more.  She is a certified Change Leader with Colorado Creative Industries and served as a NOVA EDI Ambassador for the City of Denver during her service on the Denver Commission on Cultural Affairs from 2017-2020. Suzi currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Denver County Cultural Council.