Susan Quinn


Susan Taft Quinn is an American writer of non-fiction books and articles. She is a recipient of the PEN New England Award.

Life

Born in 1940, Susan Quinn grew up in Chillicothe, Ohio, and graduated from Oberlin College.
She began her writing career as a newspaper reporter on a suburban daily outside of Cleveland, Ohio, following two years as an apprentice actor at the Cleveland Play House, a professional repertory company.
In 1967, she published her first book under her married name of Susan Jacobs: a nonfiction account of the making of a Broadway play called On Stage. In 1972, after moving to Boston, she became a regular contributor to an alternative Cambridge weekly, The Real Paper, then a contributor and staff writer on '. In 1979, she won the Penney-Missouri magazine award for an investigative article for Boston Magazine on dangerous cargo transported through the city, and the Golden Hammer Award from the National Association of Home Builders for an investigative article on home inspections. She has written articles for many publications, including the ', the ', and '.
Since 1987 Quinn has published three books on scientific and medical subjects and two dealing with artistic, social, and political issues. Her biography of Marie Curie was translated into eight languages and was awarded the Grand prix des lectrices de Elle in 1997. by Plunkett Lake Press. She has served as the chair of PEN New England, a branch of the writers’ organization International PEN.
She lives as Susan Quinn Jacobs in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Awards and honors