Born in 1939 in Philadelphia to first generation Jewish American mother and Russian Jewish immigrant father, Susan Sherman is a poet, playwright, and activist whose poetry and prose center women’s personal narratives in love and political activism, mainly feminist and gay liberation movement. She earned her BA in philosophy and English from University of California at Berkeley. Sherman was the founder and editor of IKON magazine which explored the intersection of art and political activism. Her latest work Nirvana on Ninth Street offers a look into an East Village of the 1960s, the mecca of political radicalism and art.
Books:
Sherman, Susan. Give Me Myself. World Publishing Company, 1961.
Sherman, Susan. Areas of Silence. Hespiridian Press, 1963.
Carril, Pepe. Shango de Ima; a Yoruba Mystery Play, English Adaptation by Susan Sherman, Introductions by Jerome Rothenberg and Edward James. Doubleday & Company, 1971.
Sherman, Susan. With Anger / Love: Selections Poems & Prose. Mulch, 1974.
Sherman, Susan. Women Poems, Love Poems. Two & Two Press, 1976.
Sherman, Susan. The Color of the Heart: Writing from Struggle & Change, 1959-1990. Willimantic, CT: Curbstone Press, 1990.
Sherman, Susan. Casualties of War, New Poems & Prose. Venom Press, 1998.
Hahn, Kimiko, Gale Jackson, and Susan Sherman. We Stand Our Ground: Three Women, Their Vision, Their Poems. Ikon Inc, 1988.
Sherman, Susan. America’s Child: A Woman’s Journey Through the Radical Sixties. Curbstone Books, 2007.
Sherman, Susan, Josephine Sacabo, and Margaret Randall. The Light That Puts an End to Dreams: New and Selected Poems. Wings Press, 2012.
Sherman, Susan, Colleen McKay, and Rona L. Holub. Nirvana on Ninth Street. Wings Press, 2014.
Anthologies that include Sherman’s work:
Anglesey, Zoe, ed. Ixok Amar-Go: Central American Women’s Poetry for Peace/Poesia De Mujeres Centroamericanas Por LA Paz. Granite Press, 1987.
August, Dorothy Friedman, Ellen Aug Lytle, and Bruce Weber, eds. Downtown Poets. Montclair-Takilma. 1999.
Bulkin, Elly, and Joan Larkin, eds. Amazon Poetry: An Anthology of Lesbian Poetry. First edition. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Out & Out Books, 1975.
Bunch, Charlotte, and Sandra Pollack, eds. Learning Our Way: Essays in Feminist Education. Trumansburg, N.Y.: Crossing Press, 1983.
Coss, Clare, ed. Arc of Love: An Anthology of Lesbian Love Poems. Scribner, 1996.
Dame, Enid, Lilly Rivlin, and Henny Wenkart, eds. Which Lilith?: Feminist Writers Re-Create the World’s First Woman. Jason Aronson, Inc., 1998.
De Loach, Allen, ed. The East Side Scene: (An Anthology of a Time and a Place). First edition. Buffalo, New York: University Press, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1968.
Espada, Martin, ed. Poetry Like Bread. Curbstone Press, 1994.
Hanna, Charles Shahoud, ed. The Doctor Generosity Poets. New York City: New American Poetry into the 80s. Wescosville, Pa.: Damascus Road Press, 1975.
Harris, Marie, and Kathleen Aguero, eds. An Ear to the Ground: An Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry. Univ of Georgia Press, 1989.
Harrison, Paul Carter, ed. Totem Voices: Plays from the Black World Repertory. Grove Press, 1988.
Hirschman, Jack, ed. Art on the Line: Essays by Artists About the Point Where Their Art & Activism Intersect. Curbstone Press, 2002.
Hirschman, Jack, ed. Essays on the Line. Curbstone Press, 1997.
Jackson, Gale, and Susan Sherman, eds. Art Against Apartheid: Works for Freedom. IKON, 1986.
Janeczko, Paul B, ed. Don’t Forget to Fly: A Cycle of Modern Poems. Bradbury Press, 1981
Katz, Eliot, and Christian Haye, eds. Changer l’Amérique: Anthologie de la poésie contestataire des USA. Le Temps des cerises, 1997.
McEwen, Christian, ed. Naming the Waves. Crossing Press, 1988.
Penelope, Julia, and Susan J. Wolfe, eds. Lesbian Culture: An Anthology. Crossing Press, 1993.
Randall, Margaret, ed. Women Brave in the Face of Danger. Crossing Press, 1985.
Sherman's poems were published in the following journals (partial listing):
• 13th Moon
• A Gathering of the Tribes.
• Bohemia
• Bridges
• Conditions: A New Beginning
• Contact/II
• Curare
• El Corno Emplumado
• Fire
• Hanging Loose
• Heresies
• IKON
• Intrepid
• Jornal de Letras
• Jornal do Commercio
• Long Shot
• Mulch
• Number
• Poetry (Chicago)
• Sinister Wisdom
• The Alternative Press
• The American Poetry Review
• The Boston Phoenix
• The Café Review
• The Judson Review
• The Nation
• The Nickel Review
• The Village Voice
• Theo
Sherman's short stories published in:
• Big Deal 4
• Center 1 & 3
• Curare
Susan Sherman’s personal website is available here: https://www.susansherman.com/susansherman.com
The full archive of IKON is available here: https://www.lesbianpoetryarchive.org/IKON
Sinister Wisdom published a tribute to IKON, including creative work by Susan Sherman in Sinister Wisdom 136: Icons.