Education:

BA, Williams College, American Civilization, 1980

MA, Middlebury College, Bread Loaf School of English, 1989

Before COA

  •  English Teacher, Noble and Greenough School, Dedham, Massachusetts
    (Second semester 2016, Interim Position): Three sections of 10th Grade American
    Literature, one section of Poetry (senior elective), and advisor to the literary and art
    magazine (for winter and spring issues of Calliope)
  • English Teacher, Gilford High School, Gilford, New Hampshire
    (Spring Trimester 2015, Long-term Substitute Teacher): Two sections of 9th Grade and
    two sections of 11th grade Honors American Literature
  • Adjunct Instructor of English, Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts
    (Fall Trimester 2014, Interim Position): Two sections of “Introduction to Literature”
    (Juniors/9th grade) and one section of “Writing to Read, Reading to Write”
    (Lowers/10th grade)
  • Professor of Writing, New England College, Henniker, New Hampshire
    (1998-2014): First Year Writing Program, First Year General Education, and Creative
    Arts courses; extensive advising and committee work
  • English Teacher, Pingree School, South Hamilton, Massachusetts (1981-1997):
    Grades 10-12, including American and British Literature, Creative Writing, and
    Women’s Literature; advisor to Pegasus, an award-winning literary and art magazine; extensive advising, committee, and co-curricular service

Honors and Awards

  •  Selected as an “Alternate” for the Artist-in-Residence Program at Acadia National
    Park/Schoodic (2015 and 2016)
  • Selected as an “Honorary Contributor” for the A Room of Her Own Foundation’s 2015
    “Writing Against the Current” Retreat for Women Writers, Ghost Ranch, New
    Mexico, August 10-16, 2015
  • “Dangerous Archaeology” named “Notable Essay” by The Best American Essays 2013
  • “Here on This Ridge” awarded First Place in the Poetry Society of New Hampshire
    Quarterly National Contest, November 2011
  • Dress Her in Silk (poetry chapbook) received the Tacenda Literary Award/Best Book
    2009 from BleakHouse Publishing and was nominated for a 2010 PEN New England
    Literary Award
  • Featured poet on New Hampshire Poet Showcase, 2009
  • Nominated for CASE US Professor of Year Award, 2009
  • Recipient of numerous grants for professional and scholarly development from
    New England College, including Robert O. Gilmore Grant for Teaching Excellence,
    Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Fund Grant, Marilee W. Rockefeller Grant, Faculty
    Engaged Learning Grant, Faculty Development Fund Grant, 2002-2014
  • Summer Fellowship for Independent Study in the Humanities (funded by the Council for Basic Education/NEH) “Literary Mothers, The Creative Process, and Silences: A Study of Four American Women Authors,” 1991
  • Recipient of The Charles P. Rimmer, Jr. Award for Excellence in Teaching,
    Pingree School, 1991
  • NEH Summer Seminar Fellow, “Women and Fiction,” Simon’s Rock of Bard College, 1990
  • Klingenstein Summer Institute Fellow, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1984
  • New England Studies Summer Institute Fellow, “A Regional Study of Literature, History, Art History, and Environmental Studies,” Dartmouth College, 1983

Publications

  • Dress Her in Silk (Finishing Line Press 2009)
  • Essays and poems published in numerous journals including English Journal, Green
    Mountains Review, Harvard Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Marlboro Review, NH Writer
  • Poems anthologized in The Breath of Parted Lips: Voices from the Robert Frost Place, Volume 2, The 2010 Poets’ Guide to New Hampshire: More Places, More Poets, Shadow and Light: A Literary Anthology on Memory, Poet Showcase: An Anthology of New Hampshire Poets
  • Feature articles “Harpswell Notes” published in Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors (2006,
    2009)
  • Afterword to Lethal Rejection: Stories on Crime and Punishment (Carolina Academic Press
    2009)
    • Image+Text musings at One Writer’s Excavation: Narrating a Life, Piece by Piece at:
    http://madonovan.wordpress.com/

Presentations

  • “Family, Memory, and Place: Writing Family Stories” workshop, with Maura MacNeil,
    Olive G. Pettis Library, Goshen, New Hampshire, 2015
  • Guest Speaker on “Literary Mothers & The Creative Process” for “The Psychology of
    Women” course at New England College, 2015
  • “Family, Memory, and Place: Telling Family Stories” Humanities to Go workshop, with
    Maura MacNeil, at Belknap Mill Society, Laconia, New Hampshire, 2013
  • “Orphaned Images & Imagined Narratives” Mind Stretch presentation with
    Maura MacNeil at the A Room of Her Own Foundation Women Writers’ Retreat,
    Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mexico, 2013
  • “Dangerous Archaeology: Photographs, Artifacts, and Ephemera in Visual/Textual
    Narratives,” New England Narrative Conference, New England College, Henniker,
    New Hampshire, 2012
  • NEC Gallery Exhibit of Dangerous Archaeology: A Daughter’s Search for Her Mother
    (and Others) – a memoir in fragments, with photographer Autumn E. Monsees, 2012
  • Guest Writer, Gilford Public High School, Gilford, New Hampshire, 2012
  • Stone Bridge Poetry Project Reading, Concord Public Library, Concord,
    New Hampshire, 2010
  • Poetry Reading, Bass Harbor Memorial Library, Mt. Desert Island, Maine, 2009
  • Featured speaker (with Martha Carlson-Bradley) on Literary Friendships for the
    Monadnock Writers’ Group, Peterborough, New Hampshire, 2008
  • Collecting the Pieces: Three Generations of Witter Women in India presentation, Bass Harbor Memorial Library, Mt. Desert Island, Maine, 2007
  • Guest Poet, Pingree School, South Hamilton, Massachusetts, 2007
  • Literary Magazine Workshop for high school teachers, New Hampshire Young Writers’
    Conference, 2006
  • Breath of Parted Lips reading, Dartmouth College, 2005
  • Poetry as Palimpsest: Uncovering the Layers of Grief workshop (with Maura MacNeil)
    for the New Hampshire Writers’ Project, Concord, New Hampshire, 2004
    Profe