Fiona Sussman
Growing up in a publisher’s home in South Africa meant that Fiona fell in love with language and the written word at an early age. This was during the apartheid era, and witnessing the brutal regime at work sensitised her to issues of injustice and racial prejudice, experiences which would come to inform much of her early writing. After school, she completed a BA in English Literature, however, a terminal illness in the family saw her change career path and pursue a career in Medicine. In 1989, she emigrated to New Zealand, where she completed her medical degree and went on to work as a family doctor. While she found practising medicine immensely satisfying, she still hankered after the literary world of her childhood. Finally, the call to write became too great. She hung up her stethoscope, returned to university to do a Master of Creative Writing, and then began to write in earnest. Fiona's writing, which has been published internationally, has won a number of awards. To date she has published four novels and many short stories.
Genre:
- Adult Fiction
Skills:
- Competition Judging
- Mentoring
- Novelist
- Public Speaking
- Readings (adults)
- Short Story Writing
- Tutoring
- Workshops (adults)
Branch:
Auckland
Location:
Auckland
Publications:
SHIFTING COLOURS (UK) 2014/ANOTHER WOMAN”S DAUGHTER (USA) 2015
Set against the violent backdrop of apartheid South Africa and then the calm of late twentieth century Britain, the novel traces the lives of Celia and Miriam – a mother and daughter separated by land, sea and heart-rending circumstance. An AMAZON RISING STAR 2014. Included in SAINSBURY'S BEST DEBUT NOVEL COLLECTION 2014.
THE LAST TIME WE SPOKE (UK 2016)
One mild summer evening in rural New Zealand the lives of two individuals brutally collide. Neither will ever be the same again, their futures forever linked. This is a dark tale that navigates the underbelly of urban New Zealand. It is also a very human story of hope and possibility. Winner NGAIO MARSH AWARD FOR BEST CRIME NOVEL 2017 Winner KOBO/NZ AUTHOR PUBLISHING PRIZE 2014 (for the manuscript – working title: 'Sentenced') Shortlisted NZ HERITAGE PRIZE 2016
ADDRESSED TO GRETA
Winner NZBOOKLOVERS AWARD FOR BEST ADULT FICTION, 2021.
Addressed to Greta tells the story of Greta Jellings, an awkward, socially anxious, 39-year-old woman who has spent so much of her life trying to be the person others want her to be, she no longer knows who she is anymore. When she becomes the recipient of an unusual bequest, her carefully ordered existence is tipped on its head. Her late friend Walter has set her a challenge that leads her across the globe and so far outside of her comfort zone, that she is forced to confront who she really is. It is in the foreignness of strangers she finds the familiar, and in the expanse of the vista that she gains perspective. A captivating novel about a woman learning to express her true self. It’s a story about finding the courage to be seen in order to live a bigger life, and a testament to the transformative power of friendship.
THE DOCTOR'S WIFE
Shortlisted for the NZBOOKLOVERS AWARD for best adult fiction 2023 and THE NGAIO MARSH AWARD for Best Crime Novel 2024. Part of the Auckland Libraries BESTIE COLLECTION 2023. Most borrowed book from Auckland Libraries 2023.
The Doctor's Wife is a domestic thriller that sees a supposedly tight, longstanding friendship between two couples destroyed by illness and an unexplained violent death.
Published by Bateman Books, NZ
Legend Press UK to publish it in the UK in March 2024
A BREATH, A BUNK, A LAND, A SKY
Short story shortlisted for 2020 THE COMMONWEALTH SHORT STORY PRIZE from over 5000 entries.
Published on adda https://www.addastories.org/breath-bunk-land-sky/
HIDING SOMETHING
Short story included in Antipodoean collection of crime short stories DARK DEEDS DOWNUNDER
MAD MEN
Winner SUNDAY STAR TIMES SHORT STORY AWARD 2018
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/109521393/read-the-sunday-startimes-short-story-awards-2018-winners-winning-entry