"Merson's writing catapults us into the early sixties with such a sense of authenticity, beauty, and grace. A natural storyteller with an actor's ear for voice and character, Merson's prose hits the reader in the center of the heart and leaves them with the feeling of having traveled a great distance to find themselves in their very own backyard." -Jamie Cat Callan, Author, French Women Don't Sleep Alone "Susan Merson locates the reader squarely inside her characters hearts and minds,... her narrative voice is beautiful, luxurious, poetic. Merson creates a completely realized universe; she brings her readers effortlessly inside the tapestery of human condition as she considers it." -Barbara Bottner, Award Winning Novelist and Screenwriter
SUSAN MERSON
www.susanmerson.com
Actress/writer Susan Merson has appeared in numerous television shows, plays and in the film casts of LOST IN YONKERS (Aunt Gert), THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE DEAD, PHENOMENON and TERMINATOR 3!
Involved as actress/writer with new plays and playwrights since the early 70's she has several solo pieces to her credit (as writer/ performer) (REFLECTIONS OF A CHINA DOLL, CLARICE COHEN'S TRIBAL TALES OF LOVE, (JWTP Commission), THE LOVES OF SHIRLEY ABRAMOWITZ ETC) as well as full length and one act plays that have been performed nationally. She won a Best Actress Award in l999 in performance with colleague Sherry Glaser's solo piece, FAMILY SECRETS. She served as Resident Playwright for the Jewish Women's Theatre Project in Los Angeles, California for three seasons. Her JWTP commission, A BOUNTY OF LACE, about sex and violence in the midst of war, has had subsequent readings around the country. HAIR: A REMINISCENCE was presented by the Fountain Theatre in LA. WHAT REMAINS, a play about the true story of the murder of a prominent Midwestern rabbi, is slated for a Detroit production next year. Screenplay SWIMMING UPSTREAM is under option to Jimola Productions. YOUR NAME HERE: An Actor/ Writer's Guide to Solo Performance came out in January 2005 and she has traveled nationally offering workshops in conjunction with the book.
Susan has served as the Producing Director of the Jewish Women's Theatre Project, Artistic Director of the Streisand Festival, Associate Producer at the Fountain Theatre and co founder and chief moderator (20 years) of the LA Writers Bloc, established with award winning writers Jane Anderson and Donald Margulies. She regularly teaches yoga. Susan received her MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College in Vermont in July 2003. She teaches Playwriting at Cal State Fullerton and is the Founding Program Director of the NY ARTS Summer Conservatory Program(www.nyartsstc.blogspot.com). This New Play Intensive was created in partnership with NYARTS/ Ohio Wesleyan University and the Ensemble Studio Theatre. She has been a proud member of EST since her first play, REFLECTIONS OF A CHINA DOLL, was produced there in 1977.
Her novel DREAMING IN DAYLIGHT came out in 2009. Other fiction has been published in NICE JEWISH GIRLS, edited by Marlene Marks, Penguin; JEWS IN AMERICA, Hugh Lauter Levin; Lilith Magazine, Democrats Soul and additional journals.
Check out the website at www.susanmerson.com
