Suzette Richards Biography

Mission statement: I don’t use AI to generate or even tweak my poetry, because I am a better poet than it.

For a quick overview of my  bio, using Grok 4, use the prompt: "Suzette Richards Poet'.

 

Poetry has been my passion since my retirement from an accountancy based career a dozen years ago. I currently live in South Africa and this rainbow nation has inspired many of my poems. I also have British nationality and embrace their grammar and spelling, but I read widely and am not fazed by strict grammar rules: A pavement/sidewalk; glasses/eyeglasses; judgement/judgment, et cetera; they are one and the same to me when I read poetry. To date, I have self-published a number of books, including the poetry anthology by international poets, © Time, 2014 ISBN 978-0-620-60578-6, and have been cited in many international publications, both poetry journals, as well as in scholarly handbooks. Some of my short stories have been published in international electronic publications, and one of my novellas had been short-listed for an Afrikaans SA publication.

I serve on the Board of Advisers, of Taleemi Baithak.

I have a number (14 to date) poetic forms to my credit, notably, Suzette Prime, 2012 (listed here on PoetrySoup under Poem Types), as well as The Tesla 3-6-9, 2017, and Suzcrostic, 2021 (listed under New Poetic Forms here on PoetrySoup), Suzette sonnet (SUZNET), 2023 - introduced via an article here at PoetrySoup, as well as the brand new Suzette Swan Arc, 3  April 2025.  Other invented forms which are popular: Phoenix Sixain, Excire, and Specular Fugue. These all resist AI imitation.

My most recent books which include examples of my poetry as well as notes regarding poetry - available directly from me. Please note that due to the fact that there isn't an Amazon outlet in SA, I self-publish.

  1. © The Eutony of Words, 2018 ISBN 978-0-6399382-0-2
  2. © Docendo discimus, 2021 (Revised 2023) ISBN 978-0-620-95432-7
  3. © Flight of Thoughts, 2023 ISBN 978-0-6397-8880-7
  4. © Downtown - Poetic Devices, 2023 ISBN 978-0-7961-1968-1
  5.  © Rocking Poetry, 2033 ISBN 978-0-7961-2824-9
  6. NEW: moonwake - Suzette Prime poetry, ISBN 978-1-0370-1836-7(PDF). It is a collection of 61+ Suzette Prime poetry spanning from 2012 (when I designed the poetic form), to date.

Navigation of Fact and Fantasy

Blog Posted by Suzette Richards: 9/26/2026 1:48:00 AM

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Dietrich Avatar
September 26, 2026 at 7:05 PM
I remember one time I was writing about flowers in early summer and found out I was using a particular flower that only grew in early spring. So I might mess up once in a while with details, but I try to get them right as often as possible. Sometimes the research alone takes more time than writing the actual poem. When a judge asks for something not even in my wheelhouse of knowledge, I really have to research and even then, I can't be 100% sure because I am depending entirely on what Google says!
Dietrich Avatar
September 26, 2026 at 9:56 PM
Woodchuck reels. Haha.
Richards Avatar
September 26, 2026 at 9:27 PM
Oh, the dependence on external sources is what gets me down as well. It is a constant juggle between being interesting and an utter nerd. A fellow poet had not so long ago pulled me up short about my very wrong detail regarding sprites (the lightning phenomenon). The poem was inspired by a social media post and I had fallen into the trap of trading fact for fiction. In future, I will stick to the harmless reels of a woodchuck crossing a road...
Smith  Avatar
September 26, 2026 at 1:59 AM
I do find poems with no obvious attempt to verify even the style they write in. I know in my ignorance I did do such a thing but once I was alerted to my error I now check carefully. As for content, if your using a fact how hard is it to check. I spend more hours checking my facts before writing. Sometimes I slip, but on reading before posting usually picks that up. I am sure many dont reread before posting. I also check format after posting as we dont have a review capability.
Dietrich Avatar
September 26, 2026 at 7:06 PM
You are right on, Alison

Previous Blogs

Navigation of Fact and Fantasy
Date Posted: 9/26/2026 1:48:00 AM
Memory is a Fickle Thing
Date Posted: 9/19/2026 12:16:00 AM
What Language do you Dream In?
Date Posted: 9/5/2026 1:21:00 AM
A Third Party Overview - Suzette Prime - Join the Conversation
Date Posted: 8/29/2026 11:32:00 PM
Suzette Prime – More to it than what meets the casual eye
Date Posted: 8/19/2026 11:25:00 PM
Understanding Suzette Prime
Date Posted: 8/6/2026 4:59:00 AM
The Good Old Days - Tanka - FINALISED
Date Posted: 8/1/2026 12:12:00 AM
The Great Expectation
Date Posted: 7/26/2026 10:34:00 AM
The Good Old Days - 2012
Date Posted: 7/18/2026 11:06:00 PM
Like a Phoenix
Date Posted: 7/15/2026 1:19:00 AM
The Pool of Refection
Date Posted: 6/29/2026 10:56:00 PM

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