Heather Heckman-McKenna

Education

PhD, University of Missouri, English, 2022

MA, Simons University, English, 2016

BFA, Emerson College, Writing, Literature, Editing, Publishing, 2005

Research and Teaching

Areas of Study

  • British Literature
  • American Literature
  • Women's and Gender Studies
  • Creative Writing (multi genre)
  • Feminist Studies
  • Composition and Rhetoric
  • Film
Bio

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Heather Heckman-McKenna holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Missouri and is currently an Instructor of English. Her research primarily surrounds eighteenth-century women’s literature, the subversive body, and digital humanities, and she is also a memoirist and creative nonfiction writer. Heather’s scholarly work has appeared in the Jackson Bibliography of Romantic PoetryAphra Behn OnlineThe Explicator, and elsewhere and her creative work has appeared in The Carolina Quarterly, CutBank, and The Journal, amongst others. Heather’s current projects include a forthcoming book chapter on Charlotte Smith’s Emmeline, a chapbook memoir on grief, and two women’s literature digital humanities projects. She also holds an Associate Editor position at The Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation

Awards and Honors

Awards and Honors:

Scholarly Awards

International: 
2022     Gale-ASECS Non-Residential Fellowship

University of Missouri Graduate School:
2022    Mary Elizabeth Gutermuth Award for Community Engagement
2020    John D. Bies International Travel Award, 2020-2021
2020     Dissertation Research Travel Scholarship, 2020-2021

University of Missouri English Department:
2022    English Department Fellowship, 2022
2021     Harry J. and Richard A. Hocks Dissertation Fellowship, 2021-2022
2021     Mary-Joe Purcell Fellowship, 2021-2022
2020     English Dissertation Year Fellowship, 2020-2021
2020     Donald E. and Mary Frances Hayden English Fellowship, 2020-2021
2020     The Judith A. and Richard B. Schwartz Award, 2020-2021
2019     Mary-Joe Purcell Fellowship, 2019-2020
2019     Elizabeth T. Barnes Memorial Graduate Fellowship, 2019-2020
2019     Graduate Student Best Paper Award, 1st Place, 2019
2018     Mary-Joe Purcell Fellowship, 2018-2019
2018     Graduate Student Best Paper Award, 2nd Place, 2018
2017     Elizabeth T. Barnes Memorial Graduate Fellowship, 2017-2018
2016     Donald E. and Mary Frances Hayden English Fellowship, 2016-2017

Creative Awards:

National:
2019     Pushcart Prize nomination for “Tilt,” December 2019
2018     Pushcart Prize nomination by Contributing Editor Joseph Hurka, December 2018
2018     “Drive” selected as a “Memoir Magazine Notable Essay,” April 2018

Selected Publications

Publications:

Refereed Journal Articles:
2019     Heringman, Noah and Heather Heckman-McKenna. “Commentary for Plate 1.57, Engraving of a Hypocaust Found at Lincoln.” Vetusta Monumenta. 12 June 2019.

2016     “Redefining Love in Atwood’s ‘Variation on the Word Sleep.’” The Explicator, vol. 74, no. 2, 2016, pp. 92-98.

Book Reviews:
2022     Book Review for Placing Charlotte Smith, forthcoming in Aphra Behn Online.

Refereed Headnotes: 
2022     Biography for Mary Julia YoungJackson Bibliography of Romantic Poetry, 28 March 2022.

Literary Journal Publications: 
Creative Nonfiction:

2022     “April 18th 2012; Echoes.” Past Ten, 18 April 2022. 

2021     “Fall.” The Carolina Quarterly, 71.1, 2021.

2021     “Chroma.” The Journal, 44.3, 2021.

2019    “Tilt.” CutBank, 90, 2019.

2018     “Target.” Open: Journal of Arts & Letters, 26 June 2018, web.

2018     “Drive.” Newfound, vol. 9, no. 1, 2018.

2016     “Securely Bound.” Bacopa Literary Review, vol. 8, no. 1, 2016, pp. 158-162.

2014     “Bus Ride.” Eckleburg, May 2014, web. 

Fiction:
2016     “Second Memory.” Inwood Indiana: Reaping, vol. 10, no. 1, 2016, p. 118.