About

Prior to writing fiction, Suzanne C. Martinez was an artist. She earned a BFA in Painting from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA, and an MFA in Printmaking from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. She has studied fiction at The New School, NYU/SPS, the Kenyon Review Writers Workshop, NYS Writers Institute, the Yale Writers Workshop, and the One Story Writers’ Workshop.

Suzanne is still working on her first novel, “Drawing Lessons,” a coming-of-age story, and a linked story collection, “Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass,” about DUMBO in the 1980s. She is also working on a short story collection tentatively titled “We Are All Strangers’ as well as lots of flash fiction and longer stories.

Four of her stories were chosen for readings at the KGB Bar during 2017-2019. She did readings of her work with Wordier Than Thou and One Story in 2020, with Dovetails in 2021, and The Phoenix Reading Series in 2019, 2021, and 2023. During 2022-2023, she did readings through Women Who Submit, One Story, and the Smokelong Quarterly.

Suzanne’s debut story, “Distillation“ appeared in The Drabble in November 2018.

“La Femme Assise” appeared in The Hong Kong Review in January 2019, “We Are All Strangers” appeared in Bull & Cross in February 2019, “Salmonella Summer” appeared in Streetlight Magazine in June 2019, “There Are No Whys” appeared in Flash Fiction Magazine in October 2019, “The Cinderella of Sunset Park” appeared in The Broadkill Review in November 2019. “Cinderella” was nominated by The Broadkill Review for a 2019 Pushcart Prize and a 2020 The Best of the Net.

“Magnus Opus with Rodents” appeared in Thrice Fiction Magazine in January 2020. “Promises” appeared in the November 4, 2020 issue of Flash Fiction Magazine. “Promises” was nominated by Flash Fiction Magazine for a 2020 Pushcart Prize and chosen as Honorable Mention in the 2020 Flash Fiction Magazine Editor’s Choice Awards. “Lost & Found at Sunfish Pond” appeared in The Wild Word in November 2020.

“Quitters” appeared in Dovetail‘s Quarantine issue in January 2021. “A Perfect Smile” appeared in the Spring 2021 issue of Active Muse. “How to Make Fire Prints with John Cage” appeared in The Citron Review in the Fall 2021 issue. The Citron Review nominated “John Cage” for the 2022 Best Small Fictions Anthology.

“The Contract” was awarded second Honorable Mention in the Saturday Evening Post 2022 Great American Fiction Contest. “Knock Me Over” was published by Gone Lawn on January 31, 2022. Sledgehammer Lit published “Takeout” on February 8, 2022, along with an audio reading of her story. In 2022, two of her short stories were shortlisted by Molotov Cocktail and Able Muse, and a third was chosen as a finalist by the Bellingham Review. “Stromboli’s Nights of Wonder” was published by The Hong Kong Review in the Fall of 2022.

Her linked story collection, “Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass,” was chosen as a finalist in the 2023 Tartt First Fiction Award. One of the stories, “A Glint of Light,” was published in August 2023 in Tartts Nine, Incisive Fiction from Emerging Writers Anthology. Two micros were published in The Blue Mountain Review in September. A story was shortlisted for the Able Muse Write 2023 Prize, and “John Cage” was Longlisted for the Smokelong Quarterly 2023 Workshop Prize.

Her linked story collection, “Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass” (8-stories), was chosen as a finalist in the WTAW Press Alcove Chapbook Series Open 2024 Competition and a semi-finalist in the Hidden River Arts-Eludia 2024 Award (20-stories). “Under the Texan Sun” was published in Burningword Journal in the January 2024 issue and nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology. Wild Word Magazine published “Nearly Father” and “Bernie at the Movies” in their LOVE issue in February 2024. “Three Times My Sister Buried the Dead” was published by Wigleaf in March. Wild Word Magazine published “A Lucky Two Dollar Bill” and “Broken” in their LIVE issue in June. “Mornings at Seven” appeared on Open Space in North American Review December 13, 2024.

In January of 2025, Suzanne’s micro “The Butterscotch Pie Artist” appeared in Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine , as well as “Now That You’re Here, Why Not Stay” in Ghost Parachute. In February, “Florence Waited” was published by Dulcet Literary Magazine and in March, Variant Lit published “Pogo.” The Houghly Review published “DUMBO, Easter Sunday – 1982″ in April. in July, “Hank and Mary Lynn: A Love Story in Postcards” was awarded second prize in the Exposition Review 405 Contest themed, QUITTERS. Her micro, “American Pie” is forthcoming in Gooseberry Pie Lit Mag in August.

Suzanne lives in Brooklyn.