Suzanne Clores
Nonfiction
Evanston, IL
Suzanne Clores is a memoirist, podcast producer and professor. She is the author of Memoirs of a Spiritual Outsider (Conari, 2000), and the founder of The Extraordinary Project, an online collection and podcast about our cultural curiosity around psychic human experiences. Her work has appeared in Elle, Salon, The Rumpus, on Chicago Public Radio, on the Radiotopia podcast Strangers. She received her BA in literature and writing from Columbia University in New York, and her MFA in fiction from the University of Arizona. She has been awarded residencies at The Vermont Studio Center and The Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, and has taught at Depaul University, Northwestern University’s MA/MFA program, and National Louis University. She lives in Evanston, IL with her family.
Featured Work
From the memoir in essays, “Sensitive”
Excerpt by Suzanne Clores
Firstly, it was tinnitus. Not just white noise or ringing, but elaborate, multi octave tones, like pipes or vibraphones struck with a mallot, resonating around my skull. This happened everyday, sometimes all day. Life felt as though I was living it inside a church organ. I hadn’t thought this private cacaphony might be effects from the headphones I wore for hours at a time, or from sitting crouched over a computer learning editing software as I listened to interviews all week. I did not link my frozen face, the pain in my jaw to the boops and bongs that became so common in the dark quiet space of ear silence. Or that the sounds in my ears made it impossible to carry a briefcase, or socialize for more than 45 minutes without half my face seizing up from the partial smile I shared with those I would never know well.