Born in Belleville and raised in Cahokia, Susan Lively is a poet, writer, spoken word artist, vocalist, emcee, producer, photographer, community event organizer, and graphic artist. Performing spoken word since 2006, she is known in the bi-state area by the stage name “Spit-Fire” and has hosted and been featured at literary events at local clubs, schools, and universities. She co-organizes and performs at a branch of the world-wide event “100 Thousand Poets For Change" at The Regional Arts Commission, and helps organize a poetry and spoken word segment for the historic “Lewis Place Neighborhood Festival”, which she also hosts and appears in. Last fall she coordinated with fellow poet, producer, and activist Kristin Sharp to host a series of poetry readings at Kiener Plaza during Occupy STL called “St. Louis Speaks !"
Susan has been featured at Club 15, The Schmidt Art Center, The Atomic Cowboy, Dressel’s Public House, St. Louis’ Finest Bar & Grill, Duff’s, The Acoustic Café, The New Ground Floor, The Blue Aguave, Legacy Café and Books, The Focal Point, The Regional Arts Commission, The Way Out Club, Rance John Styles, Blank Space, Mokabe's Coffeehouse, Avant Elementary School, The ESL/SIUE Center for Higher Education, Southwestern Illinois College, St. Louis Community College, Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville, the Missouri History Museum, and East St. Louis City Hall. She created and hosted the series “Open Mic Night @ The Inn” and “Artistically Speaking!” and currently produces “First Bloom” at GYA Community Gallery. Susan is a member of the Eugene B. Redmond Writer’s Club of East St. Louis and is a contributing editor to “Metro East News".
Lively’s work has been featured on internet, radio, and T.V., she was twice featured on KDHX 88.1 FM’s program "Literature For The Halibut", and also appeared on "The Arts With Nancy Kranzberg". She was interviewed by Byron Lee of “The River City Examiner” for a feature about activism and was at GYA Community for a poetry reading and her first photography exhibit. Her photography has also been displayed at Seven Restaurant and Lounge and Mokabe’s.
Recent features include performances at the“3rd Annual National Poetry Awards” (Regional Arts Commission) the “5th Annual Dia de los Muertos Fiesta” (Mokabe’s Coffeehouse), and at “Poetry in the Galleries” (Missouri History Museum). Her sci-fi and fantasy flash fiction stories have been featured in "Static Movement" and "Postcard Shorts". Her poetry has appeared in “Head To Hand”,“The East St. Louis Monitor”, “The PEN”, “Chance Operations”, and the 20th Anniversary edition of SIUE’s“Drumvoices Revue”.