Poetry:

Sue has had more than 300 poems published in national anthologies, magazines and online. Her work has appeared in leading poetry magazines as well as general publications such as She and Lancashire Life.

 Sue has won several national poetry competitions including the Pets Poetry competition. Sue was also winner of the national American Bicentennial Poetry competition, The Bridge Arts Centre (Widnes) Poetry competition and she was awarded The Adrian Cowell Special Award in The Ormskirk Writers and Literary Club Poetry competition.  Most recently she was awarded third place in the National Association of Writers Groups (NAWG)  poetry competition and second place in the Creative Minds Poetry competition.

  Her Poem of the Month’ is featured on the Book Stop, book shop’s facebook page and this year she will feature in Link magazine and Writing Magazine.

    Her poems have been broadcast regularly on Radio Merseyside, Radio City, Halton Community Radio, Buzz Hub radio, Countywide radio and Liverpool Community Radio. Her work has been broadcast in New Zealand.  Sue’s poetry has been featured on Manchester Live Television and Channel Eight’s Bay Television. Her work has been featured in New Zealand’s  Poems in the Waiting Room. publication.

Short Stories:

 Sue has won both their Science Fiction and Ghost Story competitions and come second in the Murder Mystery Short Story competition run by Lancashire Magazine. In 2024 she  was placed second in the NAWG Romantic Fiction competition and has been highly commended in their NAWG Ghost Story competition.  In 2023 she was placed second in the Creative Minds short story competition.

   Her Scottish ghost stories have been  published by NorthLink Ferries.  She has been placed in other national competitions and been published in anthologies. She narrated, directed and wrote the ghost story The Pale Boy which was presented as a play at the Mansion House, Victoria Park. This is also available on Amazon and on You Tube. Her story Sensitive Souls was performed in Salford in 2015. Her short stories have also been broadcast on Radio Merseyside, Buzz Hub and Countywide radio and Radio Hallam.  She has twice been placed in the Past Forward Local History Writing competition.

Performances:

   Sue has read her own work at numerous venues throughout the United Kingdom including The Edinburgh Fringe Festival (with The National Poetry Society), The Warrington Festival, The Edinburgh Folk Festival and The Bolton Festival.  She has also appeared at The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester.  Sue was invited to perform at The Poetry Society Café, Covent Garden in the summer of 2015.  In 2018 she was invited to open the Grantham Writers Book Fayre and judge their ‘Poetry Slam Competition’ at Grantham Museum.  She also performed at this event.

  Sue premiered her new show Poetry in Motion – the Journey Continues… at the Leigh and Wigan Words Festival and then as a pre- festival event at the St. Helens Arts Festival, at the St. Helens Poetry Fest and St. Helens Arts Festival.    This show brought together her poetry, acting, dance, music and AV material making it truly multi- media.

This narrative show follows the lives of 10 young people from the age of 18 to 38.  It tracks their loves and losses, triumphs and tragedies through poetry and specially choreographed movement routines. It combines poetry with movement, dance, music and audio-visual backdrop. Running time one hour. Available for performance.

What the critics had to say: ‘Through this short play Sue demonstrates a keen eye for the human subtleties of human relationships …We are soothed by Sue Gerrard’s calmly spoken narrative. Never intrusive but as regular as a resting heartbeat.’

  Her next performance was Choices: This looks at the lives of three women and how their lives have been altered by the choices they have made. It has a fascinating ending.  Running time 20 minutes. Available for performance.

What the critics had to say: ‘Sue vividly brings to life the unbridled enthusiasm of falling in love. Sue engages both the audience’s sympathy and their empathy by presenting her characters with decisions that face almost every woman.’

 Artwork:

Sue is a computer -generated artist and exhibits regularly throughout the North West including In 2025 her Concrete Poetry exhibition will be at the Millennium Art Gallery and the Village Art Gallery, Shevington.  As part of The Poet and the Painter Sue has staged forty-four exhibitions throughout the North West including at art galleries in Manchester and Liverpool. The work was featured on Radio Merseyside and Manchester Live Television.  

Stage Work:

Sue has co-written a musical play The Childe of Hale, with singer/songwriter Chris Roach, which has toured the North West including The Bury Festival.   Sue took part (playing the part of the thief) in an Arts Council Funded film about The Childe of Hale which toured the North West before going to the British Film Institute, London.

        Sue was the performance Director of the St Helens College Poetry Fest for five years, the Jacobean Fest at the Citadel and produces an annual show at Lucem House. She has recently written a murder mystery called Busman’s Holiday.

Career:

She qualified as a Chartered Librarian at Manchester University and worked in the Beecham Music Library and as Readers’ Advisor in St. Helens Central Library. Sue then moved into journalism and worked for the St. Helens Star and associate newspapers for more than twenty years. She also wrote a ‘Coronation Street Corner’ for the ‘Britannia Magazine’ in Toronto, Canada and freelanced to magazines in Australia.  She worked for the KITS website and was a regular contributor to ‘Evergreen’ magazine as well as still supplying the occasional story to the local press.

  After leaving the newspaper Sue worked as a lecturer at St. Helens College for 11 years and graduated from John Moores University, Liverpool.  Sue also worked for this university and Salford University.  Sue now works as an online tutor in Creative Writing, Proof Reading and Social and Political History.

   Her books are requested from South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, United States of America, Canada and Hong Kong.