Susan L. Katz is an alumna of the Writers’ Institute at the City University of New York and the New Directions Writing Program in Washington DC. Her stories have been published in the New Directions Journal of Fiction and Poetry. Susan is also a photographer; her photo essays are housed in the Museum of the City of New York, the Bronx Museum of Art, and the library of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC. For forty years, Susan worked as a psychotherapist and published articles on human development, addiction, and group therapy techniques. She lives in Rhinebeck, New York.
about POLE DANCERS AT THE RED BARN
Chronicling the struggles and successes of five pole dancers, the club owner they work for, and their mothers, this debut novel-in-stories delves into the profound impact of intergenerational trauma on families striving to create meaningful lives.
The Red Barn, a pole dancing venue on the outskirts of Easton, Pennsylvania, is co-owned by Eddie and Victoria. Like the other dancers—GB, who is courageous and nonbinary; Marie, who struggles with depression; Violet, who is manifesting her dream; and Celeste, who grapples with religion and body image—Eddie and Victoria have been shaped by their mothers’ secrets and fears. These mothers suffered from domestic abuse, mental illness, and addiction, yet their only concern was to create a safe, stable home life for their children.
Spanning the 1940s through the 1980s, these fourteen interconnected stories about these mothers and their children explore how intergenerational conflicts are confronted and resolved. Each story features the emotional and embodied journey of one character, and together they form a larger narrative about how individual identity and community intersect in the aftermath of trauma and betrayal.
Ultimately, the Red Barn family realizes that risk-taking is not only possible but necessary, and that obstacles, no matter how heavy, don’t have to bury us. Struggle is part of life, but it doesn’t define us. What matters is trusting our own organic process of becoming who we truly are, at any age.