Susana Olague Trapani

Susana Olague Trapani is an avid reader and aspiring author working slowly on her
first novel. She has served as an Associate Editor, Senior Editor and, most recently, Review Editor for the Independent. An associate director at Children’s Hospital Foundation, the fundraising arm of Children’s National Health System, Susana writes stewardship reports and foundation proposals as a member of the foundation’s principal gifts team. Prior to joining Children’s National, Susana led an editorial department with a small firm in Bethesda, Md., and was a senior writer and editor with
the American Red Cross, where she also worked in the fundraising department.
During her time at the Red Cross, Susana co-wrote, edited and managed,
alongside stakeholders from communications, finance and senior
leadership, the Hurricane Sandy one-, three- and six-month reports.
Susana has also been a contractor for the National Science Foundation
(NSF), where she worked in the education directorate. The position gave
her the experience of traveling extensively throughout the South Pacific
and Micronesia, encouraging policymakers and educators to connect with
NSF and improve science education in the region. Susana has a B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.A. from
the University of Toronto, both in English with a focus in medieval and
Renaissance literature. She’s a sometimes runner with a New York City
marathon, two half-marathons, four Cherry Blossom 10 milers and
countless 10Ks and 5Ks under her belt. You can follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/susaot.


13 entries by Susana Olague Trapani

Feature

Video Interview With the Owners of Literati Bookstore

Susana Olague Trapani interviews Hilary and Michael Gustafson, owners of Literati Bookstore, a new independent bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Feature

Let’s Talk Books: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Susana and Josh hold an instant messenger discussion of this provocative new book by the author of Half of a Yellow Sun.

Book Review

Red Moon

Benjamin Percy

Red Moon

Werewolves, coming-of-age, and political allegory: disparate elements that mix successfully in this latest novel from Benjamin Percy.

Book Review

Sherman Alexie

Blasphemy: New and Selected Stories

The masterful storyteller brings keen self-awareness and refreshing humor to these tales that explore loss, ethnicity and the meaning of “otherness.”

Feature

The Independent’s Twitter Coverage of the National Book Festival

Susana and Josh Trapani "live-tweeted" the National Book Festival; check out a timeline of their pictures, tweets, and retweets of others.

Book Review

Hanna Pylväinen

We Sinners

In conveying the conflicts that beset members of an obscure religious sect, this debut novel probes the tricky territory of what it means to be family.

Book Review

Sabina Berman, translated by Lisa Dillman

Me, Who Dove into the Heart of the World

Amid the tuna-canning industry in Mexico, a young woman who struggles to navigate the world comes to an understanding of empathy.

Book Review

By Hilary Mantel

Bring Up the Bodies: A Novel

This sequel to the Booker-winning Wolf Hall follows the tragic end of Anne Boleyn.

Book Review

David E. Hayes-Bautista

El Cinco de Mayo: An American Tradition

Debunking misconceptions about the holiday, the author traces its origin to the U.S. Civil War and French intervention in Mexico.

Book Review

Lauren Groff

Arcadia

After growing up in a fractured utopian community, a boy ventures into the larger world with all its delights and disappointments

Book Review

Alison Weir

Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings

Life in Tudor times fills this biography that seeks to discover the truth about the sister of Ann Boleyn and her notorious royal affairs.

Book Review

Miriam Toews

Irma Voth

In this witting and thoughtful coming-of-age story, a broken family struggles to heal, amid a Mennonite community in Mexico.

Book Review

Esmeralda Santiago

Conquistadora

Breaking from 19th-century Spain, in a novel about one woman’s ruthless determination to succeed in the new world of Puerto Rico.