SUSAN STEELE
Narrative, Soul, Civic Life
Susan Steele
Writer
Investigative journalism. Civic analysis. Governance clarity.
Storytelling that helps communities understand the systems shaping their lives.
Reporting & Analysis
Featured Work
My reporting examines how public systems function — housing, infrastructure, governance structures, public finance, and emergency services. Grounded in executive public administration experience, I translate complex civic issues into clear, accountable analysis.
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Williams Bay Hit with Water Crisis Just Before Labor Day Weekend
A detailed examination of the village-wide “Do Not Drink” order, tracing regulatory history, public health risks, infrastructure response, and municipal accountability.
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Walworth County on the Housing Brink
An in-depth analysis of workforce housing shortages, economic ripple effects, and county-level policy responses affecting municipalities and school districts.
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Final Affordable Housing Articl…
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Preserve Project Gets Go-Ahead in Williams Bay
Coverage of annexation, rezoning, and planned development overlay decisions involving redevelopment of the former George Williams College campus.
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County Fire/EMS Committee Prepares Guidance for Municipal Leaders
Reporting on long-term service sustainability, state law constraints, funding models, and structural options facing fire and EMS departments.
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Elkhorn Taxpayers Cover $800,000 in Private School Voucher Costs
Analysis of public school funding mechanisms, charter restructuring, enrollment trends, and legislative funding pressures.
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Forms of Writing
My work moves across multiple forms, each serving a distinct function in civic and organizational life.
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Investigative Reporting
Fact-grounded reporting examining public systems, governance decisions, development pressures, and fiscal structures.
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Policy & Program Analysis
Structured analysis for boards, nonprofits, and municipal leaders navigating regulatory, operational, and funding environments.
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Grant & Strategic Narrative Writing
Clear narrative frameworks aligning mission, measurable outcomes, and funding strategy.
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Public & Personal Essays
Long-form essays exploring pattern, place, leadership, and lived experience within community contexts.
Writing as a Revealing Practice
Good writing is not about argument.
It is about clarity.
I approach story as a structured inquiry — one that brings facts, lived experience, and institutional context into alignment. When done well, writing allows complexity to surface without distortion.
Strong civic reporting becomes a meeting place:
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• between data and lived reality
• between policy and consequence
• between leadership decisions and community impact​
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It does not rush to conclusion.
It listens carefully, examines thoroughly, and allows meaning to emerge from what is observable and verifiable.
In public life, clarity is a form of service.
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Two Ways of Working With Story
​My work with story moves in two related directions.
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Journalistic Storytelling
Grounded in observation, verification, and accountability to facts. This work serves public understanding and institutional transparency within communities and institutions.
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Narrative Alchemy Storytelling
Narrative Alchemy storytelling moves beyond description into integration. It works at the meeting point of story and sensation — where language, memory, and embodied experience inform one another. This approach does not attempt to reframe or reinterpret experience, but to listen closely to what has been lived and how it is held. This presentation introduces core techniques that help writers and organizations clarify meaning, shape narrative, and communicate insight.
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Why This Pairing Matters
Journalism helps us understand the world we share.
Narrative Alchemy helps us understand how we live inside it.
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Education and Professional Development
Bachelor of Arts, English & Journalism
University of Wisconsin–Madison
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Advanced Writing Study
Yale University-Family and Short Stories Certification
Omega Institute-Relax & Write Program
Gotham Writers Workshop-Memoir Studies
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Conferences
Backspace Writers Conference
Pennwriters
Memoir Workshop Participant
Presenter: Memoir as a Healing Modality
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Freelance Publications
Southern Lakes Newspapers
Cedar Rapids Gazette
Madisonlit Magazine
Pesche (Penn State University Literary Publication)
TESTIMONIALS
Hi Susan,
Just wanted to share with you that after sending out the notice of your presentation, I've heard back from quite a few saying how excited they are about the topic! Thank you so much for you wonderful presentation at The Inkwell! I've heard from several members telling me how helpful and inspiring it was and what a great job you did.
Again, thank you so very, very much for doing the presentation. I hope I have the opportunity to hear you give it again another time.
Best wishes,
Denise, Pennwriters
When asked to step into a part-time writing role with Southern Lakes Newspapers, Susan did so deftly. She researches thoroughly, writes promptly and professionally and perhaps most importantly, listens to those around her to make accurate conclusions for the subjects she tackles.
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Jennifer Eisenbart, Editor, Southern Lakes Newspapers, Delavan Enterprise, Elkhorn Independent, Whitewater Register
Susan’s passion is the family story. She attended Yale and sought publication thereafter on a fictional family but during this journey was told maybe the better saga was her own. She resisted, kicked and screamed, but eventually she gave in to publishers and to her muse and began one. She completed it two years later and during said time realized the story wasn’t hers but showing others how telling theirs could shift their present and future stories.
I attended one of her presentations on her journey and developed process this year. Susan’s passion was evident, process well developed, and left many of us inspired afterwards.
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Hillary Hauck, bestselling, award-winning author of The Things We’ll Never Have, From Ashes to Song, and the Trevor Made Christmas Stories. She has been featured in Authority Magazine, the Historical Novels Review, and The Writing Cooperative. Her debut novel, From Ashes to Song, was nominated for the WCoNA Book of the Year award.