2025
December
I’m beyond thrilled to be a winner in the Irish Writers Centre’s 2025 International Debut Novel Competition… Thank you to the judges and all the team at the Irish Writers Centre. It’s been an absolute pleasure to be part of this amazing experience, getting a chance to pitch my novel to a range of publishers and agents. Here’s hope I’ll find a home for my novel.
November
I’m absolutely delighted to be part of Winter Papers 11 (edited by Kevin Barry and Olivia Smith) with my essay ‘Mid-Life Music Lessons’. And what a joy to have been part of the launch event at the Dublin Book Festival in conversation with co-editor Kevin Barry and fellow contributors Natalia Campos (photographer) and Darren Murphy (playwright). Thank you Winter Papers and Dublin Book Festival!!!
September
Very happy that I’m one of the winners in the Write by the Sea Short Story Competition with my short story ‘Republic of Pigeons’. Thank you to the judges & greetings to beautiful Kilmore Quay, Co. Wexford.
March
Absolutely delighted to have been writer-in-residence at the Booranga Writers Centre, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales as part of a month-long stay in Australia, my first time down under. What a dream of a place! It’s been amazing working on the veranda and watching the kangaroos, hearing the Australian magpies and thinking about my work from a completely new perspective… As part of the residency I also got a chance to read from work-in-progress at The Curious Rabbit, and participated at Booranga’s monthly writers workshop, providing feedback to local writers. Big thank you to all at Booranga, especially David Gilbey. And thank you also to all who came to the reading and participated in the workshop.
2024
13 December
I couldn’t be happier that my story ‘Chaconne’ can now be read on the Banshee website. It was published in the print edition in spring (issue 17), which is sold out.
The story, set between Inishowen and Derry, is about many things, but especially about classical music and dogs, and I’m dedicating it to the memory of my dog Riley. Big thank you to the Banshee team, and especially fiction editor John Patrick McHugh and Eimear Ryan.
Read ‘Chaconne’ here.
26 November
Click here for the podcast version of my story ‘Dessie and Hopper’, one of the ten shortlisted stories for this year’s RTÉ Short Story Prize, read by Donegal-born Irish actor Ruth McGill. It was first broadcast last night on RTE Radio’s Late Date. If you scroll down, you can find the text version of the story.
I was also invited on RTE Radio 1’s cultural programme Arena to speak about the story. Click here to listen.
September
Over the moon that my short story ‘Dessie and Hopper’ is shortlisted for the RTÉ Short Story Prize in honour of Francis MacManus. I look forward to hearing it broadcast some time in November. A podcast of the recording will also be made available. More details to follow…
Click here for the complete shortlist and additional information about the prize.
April
Delighted that my short story ‘Chaconne’ is part of the new Banshee (edited by John Patrick McHugh), another Irish literary journal I’ve admired for some time. The story, set between Inishowen and Derry, is about many things, but especially about classical music and dogs, and I’m dedicating it to the memory of my dog Riley. You can order a copy here.
2023
July
My story ‘Brother’ has found a home in Donegal’s own literary journal The Pig’s Back, issue 3. I’m delighted to be part of this special publication edited by Dean Fee and Emily Cooper, so close to my ‘home from home’. Order your copy here…
June
I’m over the moon that my short story ‘Tibetans’ is June’s winning short story in New Irish Writing, edited by Ciaran Carty and published in the Irish Independent Review.
April
Happy that a short piece of mine, ‘Flüsterpost’, found a home in The Cormorant, Issue 8 (guest-edited by Alan McMonagle), April 2023.
2022
It’s been a year of quiet writing and editing… Being a recipient of the Words Ireland National Mentoring Programme 2021/22 was a huge help along the way. Working one-to-one with my mentor, the fantastic Lucy Caldwell, whose writing I have admired for years, gave me plenty of support and food for thought. Heartfelt thanks to Lucy for taking this journey with me. Her generous guidance & wisdom will stay with me for good. Big thanks also to the Irish Writers Centre who now run the programme, to Dublin City of Literature and the Irish Arts Council.
Another highlight of 2022 was the John Hewitt Summer School, for which I was awarded a full bursary (Thank you John Hewitt Society!!!). It was a hugely inspirational week jam-packed with readings, discussions and encounters in the beautiful city of Armagh, which I hadn’t visited before. I’d gladly recommend the Summer School to anyone. Not only is it a complete eye-opener about current themes and debates in literature and beyond, but a great opportunity to meet and chat with writers and readers.
2021
December
I was over the moon when West Cork Literary Festival got in touch and invited me to be part of a conversation with Kevin Barry (co-editor of Winter Papers and author extraordinaire) about my contribution to this year’s journal, my essay ‘Squirrel, conscience, thermometer’ (see below), alongside fellow authors Alan McMonagle and Jess Raymon. It’s been a joy and a privilege participating in this. You can watch our conversation here.
Another piece of great news is that a little earlier this year I was awarded a 2021 artist bursary from Donegal County Council to help me with the research and writing of my second novel. Thank you to everyone involved in the decision-making process and for supporting my application. It means the world to me.
November
Absolutely thrilled to be part of Winter Papers 7,Ireland’s annual anthology for the arts edited by Kevin Barry and Olivia Smith, published by Curlew Editions and funded by the Irish Arts Council.
My contribution, the essay ‘Squirrel, conscience, thermometer’, looks at my relationship with the English language as a non-native speaker.
October 2021
Delighted to say that, after a long period of quietly writing and editing, I’m one of this year’s recipients of Words Ireland’s National Mentoring Programme, jointly funded by Words Ireland and the Irish Arts Council. I so look forward to working with a mentor over the coming months…
January 2021
Here is part 2 of the conversation I recently had with Jackie DeBurca for her Creative Places and Faces podcast. This time I talk about Northern Ireland, Berlin, Vienna, San Francisco and also Bath in England, which became the backdrop for my short story ‘Weapon of Choice’ (published by The Stinging Fly, 2017). If you’re interested and have a little time on your hands, but haven’t listened to part 1 yet, maybe listen to that first. It will all make more sense then 🙂
January 2021
Podcasts are one of the things that carried me through 2020. I love listening to them when I cook, bake or walk the dog. When Jackie DeBurca approached me to appear on her ‘Creative Places & Faces Podcast’ it was the loveliest surprise! Here’s part 1 of our conversation where I talk about my childhood in Nürnberg, how I came to write, times spent in Dublin and Galway and lots more. Thank you so much, Jackie, for having me! Part 2 to follow soon.
November 2020
Over the moon that my microfiction ‘Forecast’ which is part of Splonk, issue 4, has just received a Pushcart nomination.
Delighted that my copies of this year’s Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology have arrived. My shortlisted story ‘Unmappable’ is included. The book can be ordered here, at Tangent Books. It also is on sale in selected bookshops.
On another note, my microfiction ‘Forecast’ just went live as part of the new edition of Irish magazine Splonk.
July 2020
Couldn’t be happier that ‘Unmappable’ has been shortlisted for this year’s Bristol Short Story Prize, which means that the story will appear in this year’s anthology due for publication on October 10 when the winners will be announced…
March 2020
With so many people stuck at home at the moment, Irish literary magazine The Stinging Fly have opened their archives and all their stories, essays and poetry can currently be read online. In this vast space there also are three stories of mine. If you like, read them here:
Crescent, issue 39, winter 2018/19
Weapon of Choice, issue 36, summer 2017
February 2020
On Feb 7 I was talking about the concept of home/’Heimat’ & life as a German author writing in English in Ireland at the Residency of the German Ambassador in Dublin. I was joined by fellow author Marcel Krueger, Director of the Irish Writers Centre Valerie Bistany, Cultural Attaché Dr. Florian Rehli and H.E. Ambassador Deike Potzel.
Reading to an audience packed with both Germans and Irish, who have a close connection with or interest in the country I grew up in, was an unforgettable experience. Thank you everyone for having me.
More information can be found here.
Reading at the Residence of the German Ambassador, Dublin, 7 Feb 2020
Left to right: Tom Muckian, bookseller; HE Ambassador Deike Potzel; Valerie Bistany, Irish Writers Centre Director; myself; Marcel Krueger; Dr. Florian Rehli, Cultural Attaché
October 2019
Happy that my flash fiction piece ‘Push. Gojo. Robus. Pure’ was longlisted for the Bath Flash Fiction Award 2019 and will be part of their annual anthology to be published soon.
September 2019
My short story ‘Good boy’ can be read in the latest issue of online magazine Spontaneity.
January 2019
My essay ‘Landlocked’ (inspired by my participation in the Irish Writers Centre’s X Borders: Accord Programme 2018 and published in The Corridor, issue 2) about my experience of living in the Northwest of Ireland can now also be read here.
November 2018
Delighted that my short story ‘Crescent’ is included in issue 39 of The Stinging Fly, edited by Sally Rooney. Order your copy here. I will be reading at the launch event at the Irish Writers Centre on Thur, Nov 29.
Earlier this month, supported by my first Arts Council bursary award, I went on an individual residency at the beautiful River Mill Writers’ Retreat in County Down.
September 2018
I’m delighted to have been awarded an Emerging Writer Bursary Award by the Irish Arts Council.
June 2018
My piece ‘Fingers’ was long listed for the Bath Flash Fiction Award judged by David Gaffney. The piece is included in the award’s 2018 anthology Things Left and Found by the Side of the Road. Volume 3, which can be ordered here.
May 2018
My short story ‘Aubergine’ is currently featured on the TSS Publishing website – Home to the Cambridge Short Story Prize. Read it here.
I will be reading at the XBorders: Accord showcase at the Irish Writers Centre on Thur 3 May.
February 2018
Over the moon to be a finalist with my first novel in the Irish Novel Fair hosted by the Irish Writers Centre.
January 2018
Very happy to have been selected a participant at this year’s XBorders 2018: Accord project, hosted by the Irish Writers Centre.
Susanne Stich 