Member Profiles

Susan Glyn leads an artist’s life. She began writing poetry as a child and her poems have been published in many periodicals and anthologies. Her flair for creative writing was undoubtedly nurtured at home, (Susan didn’t attend school) - she descends from Alaw Goch, Welsh bard and poet himself.

Susan married the author Anthony Glyn and was the mother of novelist and poet Caroline Glyn; a dynasty of talented writers. During her married life, she and her late husband led a nomadic lifestyle, travelling to different countries, staying for a period of time, and then often, at a moment’s notice, they would pack up and travel on. They lived for many years in Paris. Susan writes: "My husband loved climbing mountains, sailing, skiing and driving. I managed to keep up with him, except in his climbing - I painted the mountains while he went up them."

Susan shapes her own career very successfully. Her poems have appeared in ‘ENGLISH’, ‘FORWARD PRESS ANTHOLOGIES’, ‘POETRY NOW’, ‘POETRY REVIEW’ and many more; seventeen of her poems have been broadcast. In 2000, Susan revised Anthony Glyn’s "Companion Guide to Paris", and wrote new chapters on the Picasso, d’Orsay and Louvre Museums herself. Furthermore, Susan is a gifted sculptor and slab glass designer and her work has been exhibited in churches across the UK.

A most recent publication is a collection that combines both poetry and visual pieces. Entitled The Word and The Image, it is a contemporary artist’s vision of the Bible. It is a visually absorbing book. Susan highlights one particular painting as her favourite The Spirit of God moved upon the Face of the Waters and describes the creative process: "I got a big bowl of water and sprinkled dust on it. Then I blew on it and the dust formed curves. I only saw afterwards that it had formed the shape of a dove".

In 2007, Susan Glyn was made a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, a well deserved honour bestowed upon a Christian artist of exceptional skill and lasting faith.

Susan’s membership of ACG has been a great help to her professional career. She says "When my 50-piece touring exhibition for churches held a launch party at St Saviour’s, Walton Place, SW3, a friendly ACG group came to support me. It went so well that ACG gave me an introduction to the Editor of the Evangelical Alliance’s magazine - IDEA." He printed a notice about her show, with a colour illustration, and within a week churches all over the UK had booked the show for its whole first year. It went on to tour for four years and then became the basis of her recent art and poetry Bible The Word and the Image, which is now placed in the libraries of all the cathedrals in the UK. Susan believes all this was an important step leading to her election as a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts in 2007.

 

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