EDUCATION
New England College, Henniker, NH
MFA in Creative Nonfiction, Graduating July 2023
University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI
MA in Literature. Studies focused on Creative Writing
Worcester State University, Worcester, MA
MA in English. Studies focused on Modernism and Renaissance Studies.
Salem State University, Salem, MA
M.Ed. in Education, concentration in Library Media Studies
Regis College, Weston, MA
BA English. Studies focused on Medieval and Renaissance Studies.
Quinebaug Valley Community-Technical College
AA Liberal Arts
RECENT, NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS (For full list click here.)
“Thinking with Emerson: An Exchange on the Poet’s Essay,” with Philip Coleman. asap/Journal, May 16, 2022.
“Hotel Pool, or, Gay Subject Matter,” essay. The Doctor T.J. Eckleberg Review. Fall/Winter 2019.
“The Falling Man,” essay. Bennington Review. Issue 7, 2019.
“Nomenclature for Eating, 1988,” essay. 580 Split. Issue 21 “Breach” 2019.
“What the Mountain Says,” poem. Blueline. Spring 2019
NOTABLE PUBLICATIONS with LIVING LINKS:
- “She Sings the Body Electric: Soundscape in Two “Songs” by Muriel Rukeyser” Muriel Rukeyser a Living Archive, Eastern Michigan University.
- Best American Poetry blog: three-part interview with Stephanie Brown and a two-part essay on her poem “Stacks.” Best American Poetry Blog.
- “The Impenetrable Wood: Gender Identity in Elizabeth Bishop’s “The Moose,” Parlour, a Journal of Criticism & Literary Analysis, Ohio University.
AWARDS, FELLOWSHIPS & NOTABLE GRANTS
First Place Winner: Creative Nonfiction Award, Dept. of English, URI 2018
Enhanced Graduate Research Award, URI 2017-2018
“Sestina Lot # 41994,” poem. Pushcart Nominee, Radius Lit 2016
Worcester State University Foundation Grant 2015-2016
Boston Writing Project Fellow, UMASS Summer 2013
Boston University Summer Poetry Institute Fellow Summer 2011
SELECT PRESENTATIONS
- “Early Specimen Days: Grafting the Lecture, Becoming the Essay.” The Essay Today Symposium, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, Mar 25-26, 2020. Canceled due to pandemic. Resumed virtually later in the year.
- “Truth-Telling in Nonfiction.” Panel Chair, NeMLA, Boston, Mar 5-8, 2020.
- “The Body Armored.” Roundtable. Nonfiction Now Conference, Phoenix, AZ, 2018.
- “Marianne Moore’s New York Menagerie: Animalia & Regional Modernism,” American Literature Association, Symposia, Hotel Monteleone, New Orleans.
- “A Country Not Her Own: The Displacement of Elizabeth Bishop,” You Are Here Conference, Creighton University, March 23-25, 2017.
INSTITUTIONAL SERVICE
Muslim Student Association, Advisor, WSU, Feb 2022-
Ink Writing Group, Advisor, WSU, Jan 2023-
Student and Faculty Creative Writing Group, WSU, Nov 2021-
Professionalization Committee Co-Chair, Dept. of English, URI 2019-April 2020
Assistant Graduate Blog Editor, Dept. of English, URI, 2018-April 2020
Faculty Meeting Graduate Liaison, Dept. of English, URI, 2018-2019
Co-founder of the 2018 graduate symposium, “Revolt! Student Protests 1968 to Today,” University of Rhode Island, Providence Campus
Graduate Committee Liaison, Dept. of English, URI, 2017-2018
COMMUNITY SERVICE
Poetry Writing Workshops & Seminars. Workshop Facilitator, Southborough Public Library, Fall 2016-2021
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Learning Management Systems for Online Learning include BlackBoard, BrightSpace, Sakai and Moodle.
Worcester State University
Full-time Faculty, Fall 2021-
Interim Writing Center Director, Fall 2022-2023
EN 101 College Writing I (prev. called English Composition I): College Writing I focuses on writing as critical inquiry, reflection, and communication. Students practice the fundamentals of effective writing, emphasizing planning, drafting, revising, and editing.
EN 102 College Writing II (prev. called English Composition II: EN 102 builds upon EN 101 and focuses on research writing, synthesizing sources, critical analysis, argumentation, and information literacies. Students practice the fundamentals of effective writing in collaborative and academic communities, while evaluating and using sources in different rhetorical situations. This course is designed to help students develop transferable skills and strategies that may be applied to a variety of audiences and in a range of situations.
EN 105 Introduction to Literature: A critical introduction to the principal genres of literature: poetry, drama, and fiction.
EN 140 Introduction to Poetry: Examination and appreciation of the techniques and types of poetry including the sonnet, the pastoral, the mock heroic, and the ode.
EN 252 Technical Writing: Focuses on how to write and produce basic documents, from research and progress reports to brochures and manuals.
EN 258 Creative Writing: Creative Nonfiction: A course focused on memoir and narrative journalism; students analyze and create short works of nonfiction.
EN 262 Creative Writing: Poetry II: Conversation with practicing poets; preparation of a small booklet of poems.
EN 345 American Women Writers: The course examines major works by American women writers in fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and drama within applicable critical contexts.
Graduate Assistant, English Dept., Fall 2015- Summer Session 2 2016
Clerk, English Dept., Fall 2016-Summer Session 2 2017
Adjunct Instructor, English Dept., Spring 2017-2021
Clark University
Part-time Faculty, Writing & English Dept., Fall 2019-
IDND 18 Expository Writing: Centered on student writing, this course teaches the writing process, emphasizing revision. Students write informal exercises and essays. This course is required of some students
IDND 20 Writing: Life with Beasts: Exploratory critical and personal writing about animals and the spaces we share.
ENG 1230 Writings of Place & Nature: “It is not down in any map; true places never are,” Herman Melville wrote in “Moby Dick.” We are increasingly disconnected from the spirit of the natural world and our sense of place in this burgeoning technological age. The goal of this course is to reawaken our inherent connection to the earth, and place, in order to helps us see the world more clearly and understand it more deeply. We will study “nature writing” by those who have a special connection to the earth anchored a certain place, from Emerson and Thoreau to contemporary authors. As time permits we will conduct field studies, a film study, and be visited by an author. This course will explore what place can teach us, how it shapes our vision and sense of self along with our world view. Through reading and discussing essays, poems, and works of nonfiction, we will learn how we can be more aware of the world that sustains and surrounds us. Writing for this class will include creative pieces as well as analytical essays, and there will be a final project addressing a place of your choosing.
COMM 1210 Effective Speaking and Presenting: Prepares participants for the challenges of effectively speaking to groups and individuals, including culturally diverse audiences. We examine the various types of speaking situations that participants are involved with on a regular basis.
COMM 1390 Writing for Professional Communication
University of Rhode Island
Teaching Assistant, Writing and Rhetoric Dept., Fall 2017- Spring 2021
WRT 104 Writing to Inform and Explain: Writing emphasizing the sharing of information. Varieties and strategies of expository writing for different audiences and situations. Genres may include reports, proposals, letters, reviews, websites, academic essays.
ENG 105 Introduction to Creative Writing: poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction.
ENG 160 Literatures of the World: Introduction to significant works of world literature.
ENG 243 The Short Story, 19th c. to the present Theme: Representations of Human-Animal Relationships.
ENG 305B Advanced Creative Writing: Fiction. Intensive writing and reading workshop for students at the advanced level who have preferably taken at least one previous class in creative writing.
Anna Maria College
Adjunct Professor, English Dept., Fall 2016
EN 104 Writing Through Literature: Introduces students to the essential tools for understanding and analyzing literary texts and writing insightful arguments about them. In addition, students will examine language, ideas, and the cultural/political values of works of literature and what they reveal about our evolving, increasingly global society.
North Brookfield Jr-Sr High School
Librarian/English Teacher, 2011-2016. Courses taught: 8th grade English; 10th grade MCAS Prep; Creative Writing; and Dystopian Literature & Film
Framingham State University
Visiting Instructor, Continuing Education Department 2011-2014
Teaching Young Adult Literature: Taught 6 times.
Using Children’s Literature to Teach the American Revolution: Taught 4 times.
Wrentham Public Schools
Library Teacher, 2006-2011.
Norfolk County Teachers Association/Framingham State University
Instructor, 2007-2012
Freeman-Centennial School
Media Specialist, Norfolk Public Schools, MA. 2003-2006
Taft Public Library
Children’s & Young Adult Librarian, Mendon, MA. 1999-2003.
Regis College Library
Reference & Circulation Assistant; Evening Circulation Manager. Weston, MA.
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Modern Language Association
National Council of the Teachers of English
Worcester County Poetry Association
Heather J. Macpherson 