Sue Cronmiller is a poet, public scholar, curriculum development specialist, collaborator, and director of literary and public humanities programs. She holds an MFA in poetry from UC Irvine where she lectured for many years while developing university- community programs in creative writing, arts, and the humanities. She is a three-time recipient of California Humanities’ public programs grants and has been directing the University of California’s University-Community Links sites poetryXchange and El Sol Conexion at El Sol Academy in Santa Ana since 2003. She has published three books on her work there: The Poets of El Sol, (UC Press) Mind’s Eye and Journey Work of Stars (poetryXchange).
After a visit to her mother’s home village in Western Ireland in 2018, and, later, during the pandemic lockdown, Sue used the time in isolation to develop her skills and abilities in painting using the medium of oil and cold wax. Establishing a daily ritual of painting helped her to transmute some of the anxieties and uncertainties of the pandemic while creating a record of the days in tangible color and texture.
