Name: Meet the Poet - Suzanna C. de Baca
Start: 2026-05-13T18:00:00-05:00
Location: Franklin Jr High Event Center

Join in the celebration as Suzanna de Baca launches her new book of poetry, You Were Never Lost: Poems from the Tallgrass Prairie. The evening begins at 6:00 p.m. with refreshments and a chance to mingle with guests. At 6:30 p.m., Suzanna will read from her new work and be joined in conversation by fellow poet, Kelsey Bigelow.
(We apologize for the change in location – due to construction updates at the store.)
Beneath wide skies and star-filled nights, the prairie becomes a place of quiet revelation. Walking its trails, Suzanna de Baca listens for what the rural world might teach about living and letting go. A heron lifts, wind moves through flowers, birds call across morning fields. At its heart is a lifelong friendship that endures beyond loss. In the prairie’s patient rhythms, these poems find a language for grief, gratitude, and belonging.
Inspired by an artist residency at Whiterock Conservancy in Western Iowa, the collection emerges from daily walks through its protected prairie, woodland, and river valley. Here, the poems deepen into reflections on the enduring ties between people, place, and memory.
Suzanna de Baca is a writer, poet, and artist whose work explores themes of transformation. A proud Latina and native Iowan, she is a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative, and her poetry has appeared in a range of literary journals and anthologies. She is a recipient of the Derick Burleson Poetry Award and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Suzanna’s writing is informed by a career spanning business, media, and nonprofit leadership. In addition to her creative work, she is the founder of Story Board Advisors, where she works with CEOs, boards, and family businesses on leadership, governance, strategy, and communications; she is a faculty member at Iowa State University’s Ivy College of Business. Suzanna previously served as CEO of Business Publications Corp. She lives in Huxley, Iowa.