Suzanne Scarfone was educated at Michigan State University and later at Wayne State University where she earned her Ph.D. in English Literature. Influenced by English Romanticism and French Surrealism, her writing paints the visionary musical moments found in the smallest details of everyday life. 

She has been a creative writing professor and curriculum advisor with the Afghan Women's Writing project; an Education Director and writer-in-residence with InsideOut Literary Arts in Detroit; developed a painting and music curriculum for emotionally impaired children and adults; conducted writing residencies with VSA arts, an international organization that showcases the accomplishments of artists with disabilities, and has received two poetry awards from the Wayne County Council for Arts, History, and Humanities.

Scarfone’s work has appeared widely in such journals as Phoebe: A Journal of Feminist Scholarship, Coe Review, Corridors, Cirque: A Literary Journal for the North Pacific Rim, and in the anthology To Light a Fire: 20 Years with the InsideOut Literary Arts Project (Wayne State University Press). She has also co-authored Lessons from Afghanistan: A Curriculum for Exploring Themes of Love and Forgiveness, funded by the Fetzer Foundation. Her chapbook Walking in Sound is forthcoming in 2025.