Cahill, Susan Neunzig 1940- (Susan Cahill)

PERSONAL:

Born September 12, 1940, in New York, NY; daughter of Frank (a sales engineer) and Florence Neunzig; married Thomas Quinn Cahill (a writer and teacher), November 4, 1966. Education: College of New Rochelle, B.A., 1962; New York University, M.A., 1965.

CAREER:

Writer and educator. Teacher since 1964 in New York, NY, pre-schools, grammar and high schools, and colleges; taught writing courses at Queens College for "Operation See," a program of City University of New York for high school graduates with college potential from poverty areas. Part-time faculty member of "Excel" program, Fordham University at Lincoln Center, New York, NY.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with Michele F. Cooper) The Urban Reader, Prentice-Hall (Englewood Cliffs, NJ), 1971.

(Editor, with husband, Thomas Cahill) Big City Stories, Bantam (New York, NY), 1971.

(With Thomas Cahill) A Literary Guide to Ireland, Scribner (New York, NY), 1973.

(Editor) Women and Fiction: Short Stories by and about Women, Volume I, New American Library (New York, NY), 1975, Volume II, 1978.

Earth Angels: Portraits from Childhood and Youth, Harper (New York, NY), 1976.

(Editor and author of introduction) New Women and New Fiction: Short Stories Since the Sixties, New American Library (New York, NY), 1986.

(Editor) Mothers: Memories, Dreams, and Reflections by Literary Daughters, New American Library (New York, NY), 1988.

(Editor and author of introduction) Growing Up Female: Stories by Women Writers from the American Mosaic, Mentor (New York, NY), 1993.

(Editor and author of introduction) Writing Women's Lives: An Anthology of Autobiographical Narratives by Twentieth Century American Women Writers, HarperPerennial (New York, NY), 1994.

(Editor) Wise Women: Over Two Thousand Years of Spiritual Writing by Women, W.W. Norton (New York, NY), 1996.

(Editor and author of introduction) Desiring Italy, Fawcett Columbine (New York, NY), 1997.

(Editor and author of introduction) For the Love of Ireland: A Literary Companion for Readers and Travelers, Ballantine (New York, NY), 2001.

(Editor and author of introduction) Women Write: A Mosaic of Women's Voices in Fiction, Poetry, Memoir, and Essay, New American Library (New York, NY), 2004.

(Editor, as Susan Cahill) The Smiles of Rome: A Literary Companion to Readers and Travelers, Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 2005.

With her husband, designed, edited, and published "A Literary Calendar 1973."

SIDELIGHTS:

Susan Neunzig Cahill has edited numerous collections of literary writings, including Writing Women's Lives: An Anthology of Autobiographical Narratives by Twentieth Century American Women Writers. The book is a collection of autobiographical essays, from Lane Addams and Edith Wharton to Joan Didion and Maxine Hong Kingston. "Cahill's general introduction and biographical sketches of contributors provide a thoughtful assessment of the [writers'] munificent achievements," wrote Donna Seaman in Booklist. As editor of Wise Women: Over Two Thousand Years of Spiritual Writing by Women, Cahill presents a wide range of writers, from poets and philosophers to theologians and mystics, including Sappho, Joan of Arc, Sojourner Truth, and Rigoberta Menchu. "Selections are short but poignant," commented Judith Bromberg in the National Catholic Reporter. Steve Schroeder, writing in Booklist, noted: "This treasure is loaded with gems gathered from at least 5,000 years of spiritual experience, drawn from diverse traditions, genres, and places." A Publishers Weekly contributor wrote: "The result is a very satisfying anthology, illuminating and useful."

Desiring Italy features a selection of twenty-four short pieces—including fiction, essays, and memoirs—focusing on the beauty and love of Italy. Carmela Ciuraru, writing in Entertainment Weekly, referred to Desiring Italy as "a literary Baedeker … [and] a historical and cultural one." For the Love of Ireland: A Literary Companion for Readers and Travelers features both classic authors such as James Joyce and newer writers such as Roddy Doyle, each musing about various regions of Ireland. Patricia Monaghan, writing in Booklist noted that Cahill "has … put … [the writings] into the context of a careful yet colorful literary gazetteer." Sandy Knowles commented in the Library Journal that the book "will please lovers of Ireland and Irish writers."

In Women Write: A Mosaic of Women's Voices in Fiction, Poetry, Memoir, and Essay, editor Cahill presents approximately fifty women writers of both prose and poetry. Patricia Moore wrote in Kliatt that the author "has tried to choose pieces that reflect each writer's world, her insights, her vision." The selections range from the poetry of Margaret Cavendish of the seventeenth century to a modern essay by Joyce Carol Oates titled "Christmas Night 1962." The Smiles of Rome: A Literary Companion to Readers and Travelers, is similar in theme to Cahill's literary companion to Ireland and includes fiction, poetry, and travel narratives, from Ovid to renowned Italian film director Federico Fellini. For each entry, Cahill writes a short piece about visiting the site written about. "A welcome addition to the travel-literature collection," noted Brad Hooper in Booklist. Rita Simmons, writing in the Library Journal, referred to The Smiles of Rome as "a wonderful reading experience for all those interested in this ancient city."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 1994, Donna Seaman, review of Writing Women's Lives: An Anthology of Autobiographical Narratives by Twentieth Century American Women Writers, p. 1502; May 1, 1996, Steve Schroeder, review of Wise Women: Over Two Thousand Years of Spiritual Writing by Women, p. 1472; March 1, 2001, Patricia Monaghan, review of For the Love of Ireland: A Literary Companion for Readers and Travelers, p. 1219; February 1, 2005, Brad Hooper, review of The Smiles of Rome: A Literary Companion to Readers and Travelers, p. 931.

Entertainment Weekly, June 6, 1997, Carmela Ciuraru, review of Desiring Italy, p. 62.

Kliatt, September, 2004, Patricia Moore, review of Women Write: A Mosaic of Women's Voices in Fiction, Poetry, Memoir, and Essay, p. 40.

Library Journal, July, 1997, Lonnie Weatherby, review of Desiring Italy, p. 111; March 1, 2001, Sandy Knowles, review of For the Love of Ireland, p. 119; February 1, 2005, Rita Simmons, review of The Smiles of Rome, p. 106.

Literary Review, fall, 1997, review of Wise Women, p. 145.

National Catholic Reporter, February 6, 1998, Judith Bromberg, review of Wise Women, p. 31.

Publishers Weekly, April 8, 1996, review of Wise Women, p. 61.