From Ireland, Sue Healy is Literary Manager at the Finborough Theatre, London, a full-time Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader in Creative Writing at the University of Lincoln. "70 Years At The Court" is her upcoming book, due to be published in 2026 by Methuen Drama, which she is co-writing with Prof. Harriet Devine. Her previous book "The Literary Manager's Toolkit" is on theatre literary management is published by Routledge (2023).
Sue is an award-winning writer for stage, TV, and prose writer.
TV
Her current project, a 6x60minute TV series, is under option. She is under commission with Lone Wolf Media, producers behind PBS’ “Mercy Street”, to co-write the pilot and treatment for a six-part TV series.
Stage
Her most recent stage-play, Imaginationship (2018), enjoyed a sold out, extended run at the Finborough and later showed at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough. Her previous stage productions include Cow (Etcetera Theatre, 2017) and Brazen (King’s Head Theatre, 2016), funded by Arts Council England. Sue’s short plays have been performed at the Criterion (Criterion New Writing Showcase), Arcola (The Miniaturists) and Hackney Attic (Fizzy Sherbet Shorts).
Radio
Her radio work includes nine plays broadcast on BBC Radio 4 (Opening Lines winner), WLRfm and KCLR96fm.
Prose
Sue has won The Molly Keane Award, HISSAC Prize, Escalator Award, Meridian Prize and has been published in nine literary journals and anthologies including: The Moth, Flight, Tainted Innocence, New Writer, Duality, HISSAC, New European Writers. She has been writer-in-residence on Inis Oírr, Aran Islands, and at the Heinrich Boll Cottage on Achill Island. She has also benefitted from annual artist residencies at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, and at Ginestrelle, Assisi in Italy.
An academic with a PhD in modern theatre history, specifically the Royal Court Theatre, Sue has presented her research internationally. She spent eleven years in Budapest, editing Hungary A.M. She has a PhD in modern theatre history (Royal Court Theatre) and is a UEA Creative Writing MA alumna.
Very pleased to say that the University of Lincoln’s School of Creative Arts is celebrating the achievements of my colleague Sarah Stovell and I in the publication of our books this year, with our respective publishers Harper Collins and Routledge. This university launch will be a great means of discussing our research and practice with our colleagues and students.
What am afternoon, with Ally Mally, Alison Joseph and mask man extrordinaire Roddy Maude-Roxby . Wholly inspired by the art of the mask, and now intend to have an entire masked act in my new play.
In 2024, I’ll be Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Turin – the first step in what I hope will be a long and fruitful partnership between the University of Lincoln and the University of Turin. I’m excited at the prospect of teaching at one of Italy’s leading institutions, and just generally Italy!
Excited to launch the 2nd annual PLAYWRITING INTENSIVE at the University of Lincoln, July 12th & 13th, 2023. The event will feature 2-hour workshops over two days, from four top-flight playwrights: Fraser Grace, Nicola Baldwin, Athena Stevens and Dawn King. In addition, both days will culminate in a play-reading showcase from our MA playwriting students in the evening, and Friday 14th will feature a round-table discussion on the Gothic genre, with Dawn King.
My book launch for “The Literary Manager’s Toolkit” took place on 13th of March, at 9 Lower Mall, Hammersmith – a house deeply woven into the tapestry of contemporary London theatre. It is here that the Royal Court Theatre was launched as a concept in 1955, and the address has been home to great theatre figures such as George Devine, Peter Gill, Donald Howarth, Nicholas Wright, David Lan, to name but a few. My book is dedicated to the late Donald Howarth, its most recent owner.
Industry figures travelled from France, York and beyond for the event and I was very touched by the support received. A taste of the event is in the pictures below.
I was very touched by playwright Simon Farquhar’s summary: Many congratulations to my dear friend Sue Healy on the launch of her book, The Literary Manager’s Toolkit. It’s a vital and long overdue guide to one of the key posts in a theatre, but Sue makes the book so much more, by making it part of the legacy of our dear friend, the late Donald Howarth, and a celebration and a testament to all that Donald, the Royal Court and all similar theatres strive for. I gave a rather candid interview for it which I am grateful for the chance of, and which I hope proves constructive, both for writers and for those who have such a powerful role in our journey. It’s a book years overdue which I am sure will immediately become a bible. A lovely celebration to launch this valuable work in the most apt of locations.
Essential for anyone who works in the arts – brimming with advice and info on jobs, access, funding, residencies. Hope it goes down well in my hometown.