A few years back Chrissy Stroop and Lauren O’Neal put out a call to writers to submit essays about their stories of leaving the church. Two amazing things happened. 1. My essay, Fundamentalist, made the cut along with a bunch of incredible essays which were collected in an anthology called Empty the Pews: Stories of…
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Sugiuchi Reads about Mississippi for Seat in the Shade 2019
This summer UGA professor Melisa Cahnmann- Taylor invited me to read for her lit series Seat in The Shade. I opened for Georgia via Louisiana rock star poet Jericho Brown. Love seeing him read and especially love how in the discussion part Jericho discussed the influence of the Black church on his performance and writing….
Go Your Own Way Panel at AWP 19
Just finished packing for Portland, where I’m moderating a panel called Go Your Own Way at AWP. Jennifer Baker, Laura C. Brown, Charlie J. Eskew, Amanda Miska, and I will be discussing the different ways people can become writers or have literary careers or make connections in the industry, etc. It’s a panel I would…
Marriage in Mississippi Before Loving- Storycorps Interview
In 1963 my in-laws, Howard and Suzanne Sugiuchi, fell in love in Mississippi. They were unable to marry because Howard was Japanese. Mississippi anti-miscegenation laws prohibited whites from marrying anyone but whites. Howard and Suzanne had to elope to Alabama in order to get married. In October I interviewed them for Storycorps. Our interview was…
Sugiuchi Wins Scholarship to Attend Key West Literary Seminar
Recently I was awarded a Teacher and Librarian Scholarship to attend the Key West Literary Seminar. I’ve always wanted to attend. The press release is below. Sugiuchi Wins Scholarship to Attend Key West Literary Seminar Key West, Florida – Deirdre Sugiuchi, school library media specialist at Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary in Athens, Georgia, has been awarded…
Hard Time in a Christian Boot Camp
Last week my interview with Mark Torrender of Talk Beliefs was published. We discussed what it was like to spend my teen years in
Religious Boot Camps Explored by the Talk Beliefs Channel
Recently I was contacted for an interview by Mark Torrender, the founder of the Talk Beliefs YouTube channel, which is dedicated to exploring the stories of survivors of religious sects and cults. The goal of Talk Beliefs is altruistic: by sharing one’s story, you can help other survivors and hopefully enact change. Which is basically…
Debriefing
I found out yesterday I will be presenting at AWP Portland with Laura Catherine Brown, Anjali Enjeti, Amanda Miska, and Charlie J. Eskrew (a.k.a.Sean Smith). Our panel is called Go Your Own Way: Plotting the Path to a Writing Career. We will discuss our paths to writing: the pros, cons, and alternatives to the MFA, the…
Code Red
I wrote this piece for Shondaland about what it’s like to run a hard lockdown with PreK students in an elementary school library. In some ways it’s more vulnerable than anything I’ve written before. I found the above sign on the ground after a National School Walkout at a middle school in Baldwin Park, Florida.
Faith, Fervor, and Fundamentalism Panel at AWP Tampa
In a month I’ll be packing for AWP Tampa, where I’ll be taking part in a panel called Faith, Fervor, and Fundamentalism: How Writers Are Impacted By Their Religious Beliefs. I’ll be presenting with Yvonne Brown, Garrard Conley, Sabrina Orah Mark, and Daniel Khalastchi. Each of us will read a short selection of our work,…