Suzanne Bunkers
Currently one of a few internationally known diaries scholars, Bunkers joined Minnesota State Mankato's English department in 1980 and immediately began creating new courses related to women's literature and life writing.
Bunkers was familiar with life writing—which consists of shorter pieces about a 
person's life and relationships—as she had been writing and publishing her own personal stories while in graduate school. "My own writing led to my interest in other women's diaries," explains Bunkers. "I wanted to be able to study women whose lives were unknown and forgotten."
Bunkers' initial research on unknown women's diaries eventually led to something much deeper. She began to care about the women and their stories, and she spent a significant amount of time researching their background information, the contexts of their diaries, and the ways in which the diaries came into the public domain. "I learned that it was impossible to stay detached and objective," says Bunkers.
Her detailed research on the lives of these women has led to eight published books, including scholarly editions of previously unpublished diaries and her own creative nonfiction, In Search of Susanna—a memoir based on Bunkers' own experiences and memories in combination with her research. "I found the research so captivating that I not only want to read about these women, but I want to write about them as well," she says. "That's the goal for me—to find value in these works and then communicate that value to others."
