Since I turned six and discovered my first blank book, I have been writing in diaries, notebooks, notepads, anything I could get my hands on. That love of writing (perhaps compulsion) has led me to write in multiple genres: scholarship, creative nonfiction, memoir, and poetry. In August of 2003, I set myself a challenge: to write a poem a day. I am proud to say I have kept up the challenge and now have 6699 poems, with my 11th book forthcoming in 2023.

After I received my PhD at the University of Michigan, I began teaching writing. My work as a writer informs my life as a teacher: it is my mission to help others find and hone their voices. I have taught at Michigan, Harvard, and the Pennsylvania State University, and I currently lecture in the writing program at Wellesley College.

-Heather Corbally Bryant

Photo by Richard Howard.

“My work as a writer informs my life as a teacher: it is my mission to help others find and hone their voices.”

Pictured: Heather Corbally Bryant’s WRIT117 class at Wellesley College, May 2019.

Interview with Michael Anthony Ingram

Listen to Heather Corbally Bryant’s recent appearance on Quintessential Listening: Poetry Online Radio.

Listen

Teaching Experience

Positions

  • The Writing Program

    Lecturer (2018-Present)
    Visiting Lecturer (2014-’18)
    Visiting Assistant Professor (2004-’06)

  • The Department of English

    Lecturer (2006-’14)

  • Expository Writing Program

    Lecturer (1995-2005)

  • Expository Writing Program

    Preceptor (1990-’94)

  • The Department of English

    Lecturer in English (1989-’90)
    Teaching Fellow (1985-’89)

Recognition

  • Awarded by The Pennsylvania State University Department of English in April 2010.

  • Awarded by Harvard College in 1993.

  • Awarded by the University of Michigan in 1989.

  • Awarded by the University of Michigan from 1984-1989.

  • Awarded by the Harvard University Extension School for 2002-2004.

Prizes & Awards

  • Nominated in 2018 for “James Joyce’s Water Closet” and “The Easterly.”

  • Nominated in 2018 for Thunderstorm.

  • James Joyce’s Water Closet named as a Finalist in 2017, competition hosted by Finishing Line Press.

  • Awarded in 1993 to How Will the Heart Endure: Elizabeth Bowen and the Landscape of War at the American Conference on Irish Studies.