The Boise City Department of Arts and History, in partnership with the Boise Public Library and The Cabin, named writers Susan Bruns and Alan Heathcock as Boise City 2024-2025 Writers-in-Residence. Both alums of Boise State University’s Creative Writing MFA program, Bruns and Heathcock will serve as Residents for six months. Selected through a competitive application process, Bruns and Heathcock will each receive a $5,000 stipend to support their creative work and to develop free public programs for the community at all Boise Library branches and the Erma Hayman House in downtown Boise.
Susan Bruns, Writer-in-Residence October 2024 – March 2025Â
An Idaho-based writer and a 2021 finalist for the Richard J. Margolis nonfiction writing award, Susan Bruns’s essays and stories appear in The Sun, Creative Nonfiction, Brevity, LitHub, Under the Gum Tree, and The Clackamas Literary Review, among others. The recipient of grants from the Idaho Commission on the Arts, the Alexa Rose Foundation, and the City of Boise for her writing, in 2020, Bruns served as the Surel’s Place Artist in Residence.
She earned an M.F.A. in creative writing from Boise State University and degrees from the University of Oxford and the University of Idaho. She has taught dozens of writing workshops to students of all ages and enjoys teaching the craft of writing and encouraging others to write their stories. Learn more about Susan Bruns.
Alan Heathcock, Writer-in-Residence April 2025 – September 2025Â
The recipient of the Whiting Award and National Magazine Award, Alan Heathcock authored “VOLT” (Graywolf Press) and “40” (MCD x FSG). Heathcock earned fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the Lannan Foundation, and twice held the position of Literature Fellow for the Idaho Commission on the Arts.
Heathcock earned M.F.A.s in Creative Writing from Bowling Green State University and Boise State University. He has taught extensively at local, regional, and international literary arts organizations and conferences. Learn more about Alan Heathcock.
About the Boise City Writer-in-Residence Program
A collaborative program between the Boise City Department of Arts & History, Boise Public Library, and The Cabin, the Boise City Writer-in-Residence program offers local writers dedicated time and a stipend to support their creative practice and connect them to the community through free monthly literary public programs and events. Funded by the City of Boise, these six-month residencies open for applications annually in the summer. Founded in 2023, the Boise City Writer-in-Residence program selected Natalie Disney and Heidi Kraay as the inaugural recipients of the Residency. You can read about them here.