Heather M Madden
Writing Services
About Me
Training
MFA, Poetry
Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
MA, English/Creative Writing
New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM
BA, English
Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, Mansfield, PA
Selected Publications
“Things I don’t say in order to explain mortality to my three-year-old son,” Salamander, Vol 48, No. 2
from Accretion: What Breaks Becomes the Binding Agent (5 sections), Action Spectacle, Vol 1, spring 2019
from Accretion: What Breaks Becomes the Binding Agent (sections XI & VX), Salamander Vol. 42, No. 1
from Accretion: What Breaks Becomes the Binding Agent (sections I-IV), Solstice, a magazine of diverse voices, spring 2015
“After Remedios Varo’s Les feuilles mortes,” Mount Island Magazine, No. 3, 2015
“After Remedios Varo’s Exploration of the Sources of the Orinoco River,” Mount Island Magazine, No.3, 2015
Review: “Immersed in Song: If One of Us Should Fall, by Nicole Terez Dutton,” Salamander Vol. 19, No. 1
“Miss Prairie’s Etiquette Lessons,” Mid-American Review, Vol. XXXIII, No. 2
“Baby” & “A man’s body dissolves…,” Salamander, Vol. 18, No. 2
“You, A Shadow,” Massachusetts Review, Vol. LII, No. 1
I believe stories have the power to change us, and that we can create change—in ourselves, in our communities—through writing.
I've taught college-level writing since 1996, when I trained in the pedagogy of composition and rhetoric at New Mexico State University. Since then, I've completed an MFA at Indiana University, and I've taught writing at Hampshire College, Suffolk University, Rhode Island College, Ivy Tech Community College, Indiana University, and Mansfield University of Pennsylvania. I've also worked as a managing editor, written grants to support a community arts center, served as a visiting writer in a Writers in the Schools (WITS) Program, and taught in community education programs for children and adults. If you're a former student, please drop me a line: I'd love to hear from you!
Currently, I volunteer as a contributing editor to Salamander. In the past, I've served as a reader for Ploughshares, Puerto del Sol, and Indiana Review.
I approach my work, and your writing, with empathy, mindfulness, and compassion (see Testimonials). I'm happiest when I'm making something or helping others to do the same.
Selected Presentations
Co-Facilitator, with Tran Bao, “Lost & Found in Translation (A Creative Writing Workshop for International Students),” Amherst College, April 2, 2018
Presenter/Facilitator: “Knowing Through Poetry,” Compassionate Knowledge Project/Bohm Dialogue Series, Hampshire College, Mar. 21, 2018
Moderator/Session Coordinator: Young Poets Address Issues of Identity: The Body, Trauma, Empowerment, and Transformation, Five College Students Present at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival, Salem MA, May 4, 2014
