I was raised on a remote farm in Nebraska, attended a one-room grade school and graduated top of my class of sixteen high school students. My simple life, as an innocent young woman from an all-white Catholic farming community, never precluded me from seeking adventure. With my license as a practical nurse, I set out at age nineteen for Liberia, West Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer. My award-winning memoir, released April 2020, In Search of Pink Flamingos: A Woman’s Quest for Forgiveness and Unconditional Love, is a story that depicts my personal journey across Africa and beyond. I searched for love and acceptance in all the likely places, but ultimately found them in the last place I expected.
I advanced my nurse’s training with a BSN at San Francisco State University. My career not only provided me with job opportunities in the Peace Corps and CARE but also encouraged me to explore areas of the world where many Westerners would not live or travel. Over the years I have journeyed to over fifty countries on six continents. My innate sensitivity to diverse cultures and an eye for detail make my writing and photography come alive. I have published poems and short stories in nine anthologies and my photographs were selected twice by the BBC News for online publication.
I am also the Chief Editor of Friends of Liberia’s (FOL) award-winning anthology, Never the Same Again: Life, Service and Friendship in Liberia. In 2023, FOL was honored with the prestigious award for Outstanding Community Service by the National Peace Corps Association (NPCA) for our anthology project.
I am a longtime resident of Bellingham, WA, “the City of Subdued Excitement.” that has met my lifestyle requirements including a creative and supportive writing community – the place I call home.
Susan E. Greisen 