She has been an active war-protester and has written on the theme of conflict as well as discussing the subject on seminar panels, alongside veterans. Susan’s poetry collections include Bone Pagoda, a journey through Vietnam – the title taken from the name of an ossuary on the Vietnamese-Cambodian border, where the bones of 3000 massacre victims are preserved; A Smell of Burning Starts the Day, an account of a soldier relative who was part of the occupying U.S. army in the Tarlac Province of the Philippines at the turn of the century; and, most recently, Gallowglass, which takes its title from the Gaelic gal-óglac, a foreign soldier or mercenary.