Susan Beckham Zurenda is an award-winning author known for her Southern fiction. Her debut novel, "Bells for Eli," earned critical acclaim, including the IPPY Gold Medal for Best First Book—Fiction, a Foreword Indie Book Award finalist distinction, and recognition as a Winter 2020 Okra Pick by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance. The novel was also nominated for a Pushcart Prize and named a 2020 Notable Indie by Shelf Unbound. Her second novel, "The Girl From the Red Rose Motel," received the 2024 Patricia Winn Award in Southern Fiction and the IPPY Gold Medal for Southeast Fiction, further solidifying her reputation as a compelling voice in contemporary Southern literature.
Before turning to fiction writing, Zurenda spent 33 years teaching literature, composition, and creative writing at both the high school and college levels. Her transition to authorship was sparked by a short story that won the South Carolina Fiction Prize, a distinction she earned twice. Her short fiction has been honored in numerous competitions, including the Porter Fleming Competition, the Southern Writers Symposium Emerging Writers Fiction Contest, and the Hub City Hardegree Contest in Fiction, with her work appearing in various literary journals.
Zurenda continues to reside in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where she crafts narratives deeply rooted in Southern settings and themes. Her novels explore complex relationships and regional identity, earning her a place among notable contemporary Southern writers.