Hubbard, Susan 1951- (Susan Mary Hubbard)

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Hubbard, Susan 1951- (Susan Mary Hubbard)

PERSONAL:

Born September 6, 1951, in Syracuse, NY; daughter of Middleton John Schwartz and Dorothy Katherine Long; married J.T.W. Hubbard, June 16, 1979 (divorced, August, 1994); married Robley Wilson, June 17, 1995; children: (first marriage) Katherine Ada, Clare Adrienne. Education: Syracuse University, B.A., 1974, M.A., 1984.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Winter Park, FL. Office—Department of English, University of Central Florida, P.O. Box 161346, Orlando, FL 32816-1346. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Instructor Magazine, Dansville, NY, editorial intern, 1973; Evening Press, Binghamton, NY, reporter, 1974-76, business columnist, 1974-75, general colum- nist, 1975-76; Evening Sentinel, Ansonia, CT, reporter and columnist, 1976-78; Journal-Courier, New Haven, CT, investigative reporter, 1978; Herald-Journal, Syracuse, NY, reporter, 1979-80; Syracuse University, Syracuse, instructor in English, 1984-88, project editor at Educational Resources Information Center, 1986-87; State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, instructor in English, 1988; Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, senior lecturer in engineering communications, 1988-95, faculty advisor, Cornell Engineer, 1991-95; University of Central Florida, assistant professor, 1995-99, associate professor, 1999-2006, professor, 2006—. Writer-in-residence, Pitzer College, Claremont, CA, 1995, Yaddo, 1999, Djerassi Resident Artists' Program, 2000, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, 2000, and Cill Rialaig, 2001.

MEMBER:

Authors' Guild, Poets and Writers, Associated Writing Programs (representative, 1999; vice president, 2000-02; ex-officio advisor, 2003-04; president, 2002-03), Florida College English Association (executive secretary, 1998-2000).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Stephen Crane Prize for Fiction, 1983; Norris B. Taylor Prize, Aspen Writers Conference, 1987; Short Fiction Prize, Associated Writing Programs, 1989, for Walking on Ice; Special Merit Award, Syracuse University, 1988, "for exceptional contributions in teaching and service to the Writing Program"; Dean's Prize for Excellence and Innovation in Teaching, Cornell University, 1991; Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, University of Central Florida, 1999; South Atlantic Administrators of Departments of English teaching award, 2000; Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize for best prose book by an American woman published in 1999, 2000, for Blue Money; Teaching Incentive Award, University of Central Florida, 2001, 2006; Research Incentive Award, University of Central Florida, 2001, 2007; Research Recognition Award, University of Central Florida College of Arts and Humanities, 2006.

WRITINGS:

Walking on Ice (stories), University of Missouri Press, (Columbia, MO), 1990.

Blue Money (short fiction), University of Missouri Press (Columbia, MO), 1999.

(Editor, with Robley Wilson) One Hundred Percent Pure Florida Fiction, University Press of Florida (Gainesville, FL), 2000.

Lisa Maria's Guide for the Perplexed, Red Dress Ink (Don Mills, ON), 2004.

Lisa Maria Takes Off, Red Dress Ink (Don Mills, ON), 2005.

The Society of S, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2007.

The Indigo Year: A Novel (sequel to The Society of S) Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2008.

Also author of an Internet chapbook, located at http://webdelsol.com. Contributor of articles and stories to periodicals, including TriQuarterly, North American Review, Mississippi Review, Ploughshares, America West, and Passages North.

SIDELIGHTS:

English professor Susan Hubbard's work has been celebrated by critics for its rich language and its evocative depiction of character. "Hubbard's short stories often focus on chance encounters," Brian McCombie wrote in Booklist, "and the long-term effects of those meetings on her semi-dysfunctional characters." "Whether Hubbard is writing about a Russian defector in New York or a free-spirited American hitchhiker in Scotland," declared Marian Carcache in a National Forum review of Hubbard's award-winning collection of short fiction, Walking on Ice, "her stories end up with a consistent message: there is very little we can trust in life." Carcache concluded, "Though some of the stories strike a warmer note than others, each piece in this collection is finely crafted. Every story provides the reader with a glimpse into the mystery that is at the heart of human relationships." "Devoted to the darker side of interpersonal relations," a Publishers Weekly contributor stated about the author's second collection of stories, Blue Money, the tales in the volume "debunk Rockwellian myths of familial happiness."

Hubbard is also the author of several novels, including the romantic satires Lisa Maria's Guide for the Perplexed, Lisa Maria Takes Off, and the novel The Society of S. In Lisa Maria's Guide for the Perplexed, the title character, having left her position with a New York advertising firm, returns to the small town in upstate New York where she was raised. She brings a jaundiced eye to life in New Sparta, viewing the escapades of her fellow residents while working as a maid in the community. "Even as Lisa Maria delves deeper into the personal lives of her fellow New Spartans," opines a Publishers Weekly contributor, "her dry and slightly vindictive sense of humor may deflect readers."

The Society of S is a coming-of-age story in which the protagonist, Ariella Montero, discovers that her father is a vampire. "Ariella is 13 and very sheltered," wrote Dana Cobern-Kullman in the School Library Journal. "She is home-schooled by her father, a scientist, and lives in a large Victorian house." Ariella is plagued by the question of what happened to her mother, who vanished soon after Ariella was born. Isolated from her peers by her father's constant attention, she begins to seek answers after her best friend dies a violent death. "Ari runs away from home," Carol Haggas stated in Booklist, "embarking on a picaresque journey to find her mother." "Well written and full of intriguing characters," declared Robin Nesbitt in the Library Journal, "the novel moves apace as the reader becomes engaged in the hunt for the truth about Ariella."