Together with The Cabin and Boise Public Library, the Boise City Department of Arts & History is thrilled to announce that writers Susan Bruns and Alan Heathcock have been selected as the 2024-2025 Boise City Writers-in-Residence. Bruns and Heathcock follow in the steps of inaugural Boise City Writers-in-Residence Natalie Disney and Heidi Kraay.

Residents were selected through a competitive application process, which included review by a selection panel consisting of members representing the Arts & History Commission, Boise Public Library, and The Cabin, all with backgrounds in literary arts. Applicants were evaluated on their responses to application questions, writing samples, and programming proposals. While 25 applications were received, only two spots are awarded per year.   

Susan Bruns, Writer-in-Residence October 2024 – March 2025 

Susan Bruns is an Idaho-based writer whose essays and stories have appeared in The Sun, Creative Nonfiction, Brevity, LitHub, Under the Gum Tree, and The Clackamas Literary Review, among others.  

Bruns is 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, she was a Surel’s Place Artist in Residence and was named a 2021 finalist for the Richard J. Margolis nonfiction writing award.  

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.    

Bruns grew up on a farm next to the Snake River Canyon on Idaho’s high desert and writes about how her family battled the harsh conditions, beginning with her grandparents, who were homesteaders. She is the mother of two adult children and works for Fahlgren Mortine, an integrated communications agency with offices in Boise. Learn more about Susan Bruns.

Alan Heathcock, Writer-in-Residence April 2025 – September 2025 

Alan Heathcock is the author of VOLT (Graywolf Press) and 40 (MCD x FSG). He is the recipient of the Whiting Award, National Magazine Award, and has won fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, the Lannan Foundation, and has 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.

The selected residents will be responsible for developing and facilitating free public programs at all Boise Public Library branches and the Erma Hayman House in downtown Boise. The Writers-in-Residence will also receive a one-time $5,000.00 stipend to support their creative work and time to develop these programs, which may be themed or open writing workshops, reading series, writing explorations, or other literary experiences. Program details are forthcoming.