Meredith Sue Willis

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MeredithSueWillis@gmail.com
https://www.MeredithSueWillis.com

Resumé

Contents

Anthologies 
Articles
Blog Posts
Books 
Selected Interviews, Commentary and more about MSW
Community Service
Editorships 
Education
Essays
Grants
Honors
Interviews with MSW
Judging and Selection Panels
Lectures General
 Lectures for Writers 
Memoir
Personal Essay
Poetry 
Prizes
Professional Associations   
Public Readings
Reviews
Short Fiction
Talks
Teaching
Video, Radio, and Podcast by and about MSW
Workshops
 
BOOKS BY MEREDITH SUE WILLIS
Saving Tyler Hake, (Mountain State Press, novella, Fall 2020).
Soledad in the Desert, (Montemayor Press, novel, Summer 2020).
Their Houses, WVU Press, 2018 (Novel).
A Space Apart, Irene Weinberger books, 2016 (novel, second edition);
        Foreverland Press, 2013 (e-book edition);
       Authors' Guild Backinprint Editions, 2005 (reprint);
       Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1979 (first edition).
Meli's Way, Montemayor Press, 2015 (YA and beyond Novel)
Love Palace, Irene Weinberger Books,  Foreverland Press, Silverthorne, CO, and Irene Weinberger Books 2014 (novel).
Out of the Mountains: Appalachian Short Stories (Ohio University Press, Athens, OH 2010).
Oradell at Sea, West Virginia University Press, September, 2002.  (Novel.) E-book edition, Irene Weinberger Books, 2014.
Blazing Pencils: A Student Guide to Writing Essays and Fiction, Montemayor Press, Millburn, New Jersey, 2013 (Writing Guide);
       Teachers & Writers Press, New York, 1990 (first edition.
Re-Visions: Stories from Stories, Hamilton Stone Editions, Maplewood, New Jersey 2011.
Out of the Mountains: Appalachian Short Stories, Ohio University Press, 2010.
Ten Strategies to Start Your Novel, Montemayor Press, 2010.
Quilt Pieces (with Jane Wilson Joyce), Second Edition, 2009, Gnomon Press. (First edition Frankfort, Kentucky: Gnomon Press 1991. Chapbook of poems and a story).
Billie of Fish House Lane, Montemayor Press, 2006 (Novel for Children.)
The City Built of Starships, Montemayor Press, 2005 (Science fiction/young adult novel).
Dwight's House and Other Stories, Hamilton Stone Editions, 2004 (Short stories).
Personal Fiction Writing: A Guide to Writing from Real Life for Teachers, Students, and Writers (Revised Second Edition)Teachers & Writers, New York, 2000.  (Writing Guide; first edition Teachers & Writers, New York, 1984).
The Secret Super Powers of Marco, Montemayor Press 2001.  (Novel for children, second edtiti);
        HarperCollins, New York, 1994 (first edition);
        HarperTrophy, New York, 1995 (paperback).
Marco's Monster, Montemayor Press 2001.  (Novel for children, second edition);
       HarperCollins, New York, 1996 (First edition).
Trespassers, Hamilton Stone Editions, P.O. Box 43, Maplewood, NJ 1997 (Novel).
Only Great Changes, Hamilton Stone Editions, Maplewood, NJ 1997.  (Novel, second edtion);
        Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1985 (First edition).
Higher Ground, Hamilton Stone Editions, Maplewood, NJ, 1996  (Novel, second edition);
        Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1981 (First edition).
In the Mountains of America, Mercury House, San Francisco, 1994 (Short story collection)
Deep Revision: A Guide for Teachers, Students, and Other Writers, Teachers & Writers Press, New York, 1993 (Writing guide).
 
 
SHORT FICTION, PERSONAL ESSAY, and MEMOIR by MSW
 
"The Sweetest Man Who Ever Lived," Cold Mountain Review, 2023 Issue on Renewal, Volumer 51 (online journal).
"Fan Fiction: Paradise Lost," Maryland Literary Review, 2021 Fall/Winter Issue (online journal)
"Grandma Shiksa," Persimmon Tree , Fall 2021 (online journal).
"Decorations," The Best of Slab, Issue 15 (Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania 2020).

"Thought Balloons," The Best of Slab, Issue 15 (Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania 2020).

"Water Tank," Mountains Piled Upon Mountains: Appalachian Nature Writing in theAnthropocene, edited by Jessica Cory (West Virginia University Press, 2019).
"Meredith Sue Willis is a Double Agent," Booktimist Blog.
"A Foot Soldier at the Revolution," A Time to Stir: Columbia '68 Essays on the 50th anniversary of the Student Rebellion at Columbia University. Columbia Univesity Press, 2018.
"Using the Omniscient Point of View Successfully," Montclair Write Group Blog, May 2018.
"Saving Tyler Hake," Voices on Unity: Coming Together, Falling Apart, edited by Cat Pleska (Mountain State Press, 2018).
"What I Know About Scott County, Tennessee," Appalachian Heritage: The Hindman Issue, Vol. 45, No. 3, Summer 2017. (Reprinted from 1994 issue of Appalachian Heritage, Vol. 22, No. 2, Spring 1994).
"Ray and the Mountain Militia," The Unbroken Circle: Stories of Cultural Diversity in the South, (Bottom Dog Press, 2017).
"The Roy Critchfield Scandals," Eyes Glowing at the Edge of the Woods: Fiction and Poetry from West Virginia , edited by Laura Long and Doug Van Gundy (WVU Press, 2017).
"Problems with Point-of-View," Piano in a Sycamore, edited by Silas House and Marianne Worthington (Hindman Settlement House, 2017).
"Feral Grandmothers: Little Red's," Persimmon Tree, Winter 2014, (https://persimmontree.org/winter-2014/feral-grandmothers-little-reds/)
"Decorations," SLAB Issue 6, (Slippery Rock, PA: Slippery Rock University, 2011).

"Rescue," Sleet Magazine, Volume 3 Number 1, Spring 2011 (https://www.sleetmagazine.com/selected/Sue%20Willis_v3n1.html )
“The Roy Critchfield Scandals,” We All Live Downstream: Writings About Mountaintop Removal, edited by Jason Howard (Louisville, KY: Motes Books, 2009).
“My Most Embarrassing,” Rockhurst Review: A Fine Arts Quarterly, Volume 22, Spring 2009 (Rockhurst Review, Department of English, Rockhurst University, 1100 Rockhurst Road, Kansas City, Missouri 64110)
“My Most Embarrassing,” Two Hawks Quarterly, Online review, 5-26-09
“Tara White,” Bloodroot Literary Magazine, (PO Box 322, Thetford Center, Vermont, 05075).
"Life Story," Columbia University, 1968, Spring 2008.
“Red Rover, Red Rover,” Appalachian Writers Guild Anthology MXVII L.G. Wise, editor (Greenvue Press, 2008), (personal essay).
“What I Learned in First Grade,” After the Bell: Contemporary American Prose About School, edited by Maggie Anderson and David Hassler (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2007).
“My Family Business,” The Iron Mountain Review: Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Issue, (Volume XXIII, Spring 2007, p.73).
“Trianglulation,” Saranac Review, (Department of English, SUNY Plattsburgh, 101 Broad St., Plattsburgh, NY 12901). Winter 2007.
On the Road with C.T. Savage,” Appalachian Heritage: A Literary Magazine of the Southern Appalachians, Vol. 34, No. 4, Fall 2006, p. 16.
“How She Chose the Day,”   Writers Conference at Penn 2006 (University of Pennsylvania 2006), p.411.
"The Story of Scheherezade and Dunzyad," The Pedestal Magazine, issue of April 21 - June 21, 2005 (online magazine); https://www.thepedestalmagazine.com.
"Susan,” from Dwight’s House and Other Stories, The Hamilton Stone Review #4 (online journal at https://www.hamiltonstone.org/hsr4fiction.html#willis)
"Tales of the Abstract Expressionsists, Tatlin's Tower (online magazine), February 2004.
"Recessional,” Coelacanth Magazine (online magazine), Fall 2003.
"Big Boss is Back,” Appalachian Journal, Fall 2002, pp. 39-48 (Winner of the Denny C. Plattner Prize for short story).
Chapters 3 & 9 from Ordell at Sea,” Big City Lit, (online journal), https://www.nycbigcitylit.com/contents/fictionwillisoradell3.html  and https://www.nycbigcitylit.com/contents/fictionwillis.html  (November and December 2002).
"The Two Lindas,” The Chaffin Journal 2001, Department of English, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY 40475-3102.  Winner Fiction Award for 2001.
"How She Chose the Day,” Big City Lit, (online journal),
BigCityLit.com,  (July 2001. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
"Like a Darkness on Her Heart,” from Oradell at Sea, Vandalia: The Literary Publication of West Virginia Wesleyan College  (West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon, WV 26201), Vol. 1, Spring 2001, p.19.
"Elvissa Did Not Become a Rabbi,” Kimera: Journal of Fine Writing (N. 1316 Hollis Street, Spokane, WA 99201), Volume 5, Fall 2000, p. 24.
"1969,” Salt River Review (Fall 2000), https://www.poetserv.org/SRR9/willis.html.
"Elvissa Did Not Become a Rabbi,” Kimera  (online version) (August, 2000).
"Operations,” Kestrel: A Journal of Literature and Art, (Fairmont State College, 1201 Locust Avenue, Fairmont, WV 26554), Issue 14, Fall 1999.
"A Dream of West Fork,” The Iron Mountain Review: Meredith Sue Willis Issue (Department of English, Box 64, Emory & Henry College, Emory, VA 24327), Volume XII, Spring 1996, p, 6
"Exposure,” The Iron Mountain Review: Meredith Sue Willis Issue (Department of English, Box 64, Emory & Henry College, Emory, VA 24327), Volume XII, Spring 1996, p 7.
"Vera and the Selection Committee,” The Iron Mountain Review: Meredith Sue Willis Issue (Department of English, Box 64, Emory & Henry College, Emory, VA 24327), Volume XII, Spring 1996, pp 8-10.
From Higher Ground, The Iron Mountain Review: Meredith Sue Willis Issue (Department of English, Box 64, Emory & Henry College, Emory, VA 24327), Volume XII, Spring 1996, pp 11-12.
From Dwight's House  (A Visit to Wise County),” Pokeberry Days: A West Virginia Literary Collection, George Lies, editor, 1995, Goldenrod Foundation, Morgantown, WV, pp. 8-11.
"Adventures of the Vulture,” Green Mountains Review, Vol. VII, No.1, Spring/Summer 1994.
Two Chapters from Dwight's House, (Chapters 1 and 2),” Kestrel, Issue 2, Fall 1993 (1201 Locust Ave., Fairmont WV 26554).
"Miss Topsy,” Other Voices #18, Spring 1993 (601 South Morgan Street, Chicago, IL 60607-7120), pp. 18-25.
"Chess With George,” Short Fiction By Women #3, 1992 (Box 1276 Stuyvesant Station, NY, NY 10009) pp. 113-119.
"Another Perversion,” Hayden's Ferry Review, (Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona) Spring/Summer, Issue 10, 1992, pp 36-48.
"Terrorism,” Blue Light/Red Light, Volume 2, Number 4, 1992, pp.60-63.
"The Little Harlots,” Antietam Review (Washington County Arts Council, 82 Washington Street, Hagerstown, MD 21740), Spring, 1991, Volume XI.
"To Speak Well of the Dead,” Now and Then, Volume 8, Number 1, Spring 1991, (Box 19180A, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN 37614-0002).
"Dreams of Deprivation,” Fireweed: A Feminist Quarterly, Issue 26, Winter/Spring 1988, Toronto, Canada.
"Evenings With Porter,” Pikeville Review, Humanities Department, Pikeville College, Pikeville, KY 41501, Spring, 1988.
"Family Knots,” Kalliope: A Journal of Women's Art, Tenth Anniversary Issue, Vol. 10, Nos. 1 & 2, Jacksonville, Florida.
"The Lost Bird,” Findings...A Journal, Vol. 8, 1988, Kean College of New Jersey, pp 35-39.
"The Great Wolf,” Earth's Daughters, Women and Spirituality issue, Fall 1985, 23-27.
"The Birds That Stay,” West Branch 17, fall 1985.
"Sigma Chi,” The Village Advocate, Vol. 5, Number 15, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, October 21, 1984, pp. 9-11.
"First Day,” Vox, Fall 1984, College of White Plains, Pace University, pp. 27-33.
"My Boy Elroy,” Star: The Weekly Magazine of the Kansas City Star, Sunday, September 25, 1983.
"My Boy Elroy,” Picture: Minneapolis Tribune, Sunday, September 11, 1983.
"Sermon of the Younger Monica,” West Branch 11, November, l982, pp. 33-40.
"From Higher Ground,” Laurel Review, Vol.15. No.2, Summer. 1981
"Claribel Queen of Tunis and Antonio the Usurper of Milan,” The Little Magazine, Vol. XII, Nos. 1& 2, 1979, pp. 22-31.
"Martha, Sister of Lazarus,” Story Quarterly 7/8, Fall, 1978, pp. 13-20.\
"Tiny Gorillas,” Commentary, January, 1978, 49-57.
"Sex Crime,” Waluna, Winter, l977, pp. 83-91.
"True Romance,” Story Quarterly 4, Summer, 1976.
"Tonie's Baptism," Phoebe, August, 1976.
"The Icon," Libera, Summer, 1975, pp. 26-30.
"Baucis and Philemon," Epoch, Winter, 1973, pp. 177-183.
"Two Foolish Virgins," Minnesota Review, Fall, 1972, pp. 86-97.
"Street Song," Emanon, Fall, 1969, 8-10.
"The Babysitter," Mademoiselle, August, 1969.
"The Fittest," Elephant and Castle, Winter, 1968, pp. 20-32.
"Rosenoire," Focus, Fall, 1968, pp. 14-19.
"Ballad of the Free", Four Quarters, Vol. VI, No. 1, November, 1966, pp. 10-15.

From 1963 to 1966, in student magazines including The Student Writer and Temper 'N Times and Tristram at Bucknell University.

 

 


SELECTED INTERVIEWS, COMMENTARY & MORE ABOUT MSW AND HER BOOKS.
Fall 2023:  The Iran Book News Agency  (IBNA) announced that "Juvenile fiction book Billie of Fish House Lane by American author Meredith Sue Willis has been published in Persian and is available to Iranian children.


July 2021 review of Saving Tyler Hake by Rachel King at GoodReads.com
January 15-21: Reprint of an article by Dean Schneider at Teachers & Writers on using MSW's books on writing with middle school students
November 27, 2019: Review of  Their Houses in Southern Literary Review.
October 15, 2019: "West Virginia writer Discusses the Importance of Fiction"Wheeling Intelligencer, "Lunch with Books", Wheeling, West Virginia.
April 2019: MSW Interview at the general interest online magazine NFReads.com ("Interesting articles. Inspiring Stories.")
Site review: "Master Your Writing with Meredith Sue Willis," February 28, 2019.
Site Review of MSW's website by Jennifer Nelson, Woven Tale Press Feature Writer: "A Treasure Trove of Information"at Woven Tale Press Central, June 25, 2018.
Review of Their Houses by Emily Masters, Appalachian Heritage, UNC Press Volume 46, Number 4, Fall 2018, pp. 111-114.
"Meredith Sue Willis is a Double Agent," blog post essay at "Booktimist," June 14, 2018.
Ed Davis Blog on Meli's Way.
"Love Palace Warms a Cold Night" by Cat Pleska in the Charleston Gazette, 12-21-14.
“A life of ‘Unfinished Business’: Cursed Inheritance and Blessed Heritage in Meredith Sue Willis’s Oradell at Sea” by Sarah Dufaure in Thy Truth Then Be Thy Dowry: Questions of Inheritance in American Women’s Literature, Stéphanie Durrans (ed.), Newcastle, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014, pp. 199-211.
“A Combination of Small Town and Long Perspective: An Interview with Appalachian Writer Meredith Sue Willis" by Sarah Dufaure in the current issue of Appalachian Journal (VOLUME 40, NOS. 3 & 4 (Spring-Summer 2013).
"Meredith Sue Willis '69 Interviewed in West Virginia Living" on Barnard Alumnae. (Printable Version here).
"Conversations with Meredith Sue Willis" by Laura Treacy Bentley, WV Living: Celebrating Life in the Mountain State, Spring 2013, p. 61.
Review of Out of the Mountains by Diane Simmons, Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review, Volume 39, Numbers 1-2, Fall 2011/Winter 2012, p. 179.
Review of Out of the Mountains by Valerie Nieman at Good Reads
Review of Re-Visions by Diane Simmons on Women Writers, Women's Books
Article on MSW Presentation at Clarksville Writers Conference MSW presented workshops at the Clarksville Writers Conference July 13-15, 2011, in Clarksville, Tennessee. Photos by Bill Larson of the Clarksville, Tennessee publication Clarksvilleonline.com.
"Appalachian Stories for the Modern Reader,"  Phyllis Wilson Moore, Charleston Gazette, (December 3, 2010)
Commentary on Out of the Mountains at Jeremy Osner's Readin Blog, (October 2010)
Commentary on Out of the Mountains at Dory Adams' In This Light blog, (October 2010)
Interview with MSW at Creative Writing Now  (October 2010).
Patricia Idrobo Interviews Meredith Sue Willis, Writing and Illustrating: Tips and Tricks, Kathleen Temean's blog, August 20, 2010.
Norman Julian, "About Getting that Novel Started-- and Finished," Dominion-Post, Morgantown, West Virginia, August 23, 2010.
Jane Durrell, Review of Out of the Mountains, City Beat/Cincinati , August 11, 2010
Linda Comins, Arts & Living Editor, "Author Meredith Sue Willis Links Ethics With Fiction in Book Talk," Wheeling News-Register, Wheeling, WV, March 9, 2008.
Matt Jago, "Writer-in-Residence in Our Residence, Park Ridge High School Owl, Voume 75, Issue 5.
Keith Maillard, “Gaining the Higher Ground: An Appreciation,” Appalachian Heritage: A Literary Magazine of the Southern Appalachians, Vol. 34, No. 4, Fall 2006, p. 38.
Phyllis Wilson Moore, “Meredith Sue Willis: Writing Her Own Dispatch,” Appalachian Heritage: A Literary Magazine of the Southern Appalachians, Vol. 34, No. 4, Fall 2006, p. 10. To read the article online, you need Adobe Acrobat. It is available to download free here.
Hardesty, David C., Jr., “Reflections on My Friend Sue,” Appalachian Heritage: A Literary Magazine of the Southern Appalachians, Vol. 34, No. 4, Fall 2006, p. 29.
Nathan Leslie, “Meredith Sue Willis Interviewed by Nathan Leslie,” Main Street Rag, Volume 11, Number 1, Spring 2006.
Sharon Hatfield, “Review of Oradell at Sea,” Journal of Appalachian Studies Volume 11, Numbers 1 & 2, Spring/Fall 2005 (Special Double Issue: The Environment and Environmental Activism in Appalachia), pp. 283 - 284.
Nathan Leslie, “Dwight’s House and Other Stories by Meredith Sue Willis,” Main Street Rag, Volume 9, Number 1, Spring 2005 (read online ).
Margaret Quamme, "Stories in the Dark: A Review of Dwight's House and Other Stories by Meredith Sue Willis, American Book Review, April 2005 (read online).
Belinda Anderson, “Meredith Sue Willis at Ease: An Interview with the author of Oradell at Sea”  Artworks (West Virginia Division of Culture and History, The Cultural Center, 1900 Kanawha Blvd.E, Charleston, WV 25305-0300), Winter 2002-2003, p. 5. Also on online.
Mary Binegar, “Author Willis’ Roots in West Virginia,” (Monday, February3, 2003); also in The Shinnston Times: A Publication of the Times West Virginian, Fairmont, West Virginia  (Saturday, January 4, 2003).
Patricia C. Turner, “Author Shares Her Craft With Students,” The Sunday Star-Ledger, (Newark, New Jersey), Sunday, December 2, 2001, p. 7, Section 10.
Norman Julian, “E-Publishing Spares Authors Book Pulping,” The Dominion Post (Morgantown, West Virginia), Thursday, November 2, 2000, p. 1-B.
Gina Herring, “Politics and Men: What's 'Really Important' About Meredith Sue Willis and Blair Ellen Morgan,” Appalachian Journal, (Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608), Volume 25, Number 4, Summer 1998, pp.  414-422.
Thomas E. Douglass, “A View from Higher Ground: Meredith Sue Willis and the Appalachian Renaissance,” The Iron Mountain Review: Meredith Sue Willis Issue (Department of English, Box 64, Emory & Henry College, Emory, VA 24327), Volume XII, Spring 1996, pp. 13-18. 
Thomas Rau, “Meredith Sue Willis,”  https://athena.english. vt.edu/~appalach/writersS/willis.html 
(November 4, 1994).

Commentary on In the Mountains of America, Publishers Weekly, September, 1994.

Tal Stanley, “Making That New Place: Blair Morgan's Coming of Age and Meredith Sue Willis's Social Vision,” The Iron Mountain Review: Meredith Sue Willis Issue (Department of English, Box 64, Emory & Henry College, Emory, VA 24327), Volume XII, Spring 1996, pp. 19-25.
Jack L. Wills, “The Story's the Thing: The Power of Narrative in In the Mountains of America,” The Iron Mountain Review: Meredith Sue Willis Issue (Department of English, Box 64, Emory & Henry College, Emory, VA 24327), Volume XII, Spring 1996, pp 26-30.
Karen Morgan, “Circling Out, Centering In: A Conversation,” The Iron Mountain Review: Meredith Sue Willis Issue (Department of English, Box 64, Emory & Henry College, Emory, VA 24327), Volume XII, Spring 1996, 31-37.
Thomas E. Douglass, “Interview with Meredith Sue Willis,” Appalachian Journal (Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608), Volume 20, Number 2, Spring 1993, pp. 284-293.
Nancy Carol Joyner, “The Poetics of the House in Appalachian Fiction,” in The Poetics of Appalachian Space, ed. Parks Lanier, Jr., (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1991).
Barbara Melosh, “Historical Memory in Fiction: The Civil Rights Movement in Three Novels,” Radical History # 40, January 1988 (445 W. 59th St., Room 4312, New York, NY 10019), pp. 64-76.
Ken Sullivan, “Gradual Changes: Meredith Sue Willis and the New Appalachian Fiction,” Appalachian Journal 14, 1986, pp. 38-45.
Leslie Hanscom, “Looking Back Upon A Summer in VISTA; Leslie Hanscom Talks With Meredith Sue Willis,” Newsday, February 3, 1985, p. 18.
 

 

SELECTED ANTHOLOGIES, REPRINTS, AND BOOK INTRODUCTIONS
"Water Tank," Mountains Piled Upon Mountains: Appalachian Nature Writing in theAnthropocene, edited by Jessica Cory (West Virginia University Press, 2019).
"A Foot Soldier at the Revolution," A Time to Stir: Columbia '68 Essays on the 50th anniversary of the Student Rebellion at Columbia University, edited by Paul Cronin (Columbia University Press, 2018).
"Saving Tyler Hake," Voices on Unity: Coming Together, Falling Apart, edited by Cat Pleska (Mountain State Press, 2018).
"What I Know About Scott County, Tennessee," Appalachian Heritage: The Hindman Issue, Vol. 45, No. 3, Summer 2017. (Reprinted from 1994 issue of Appalachian Heritage, Vol. 22, No. 2, Spring 1994).
"Ray and the Mountain Militia," The Unbroken Circle: Stories of Cultural Diversity in the South, (Bottom Dog Press, 2017).
"The Roy Critchfield Scandals," Eyes Glowing at the Edge of the Woods: Fiction and Poetry from West Virginia , edited by Laura Long and Doug Van Gundy (WVU Press, 2017).
"Problems with Point-of-View," Piano in a Sycamore, edited by Silas House and Marianne Worthington (Hindman Settlement House).
"On the Road with C.T. Savage," in Appalachia Now: Short Stories of Contemporary Appalalchia, an anthology of contemporary Appalachian fiction from Bottom Dog Press 
"Elvissa and the Rabbi," Appalachian Gateway: An Anthology of Contemporary Stories and Poetry (Univ Tennessee Press 2013).
“On Cutting,” Writers Conference at Penn 2006 (University of Pennsylvania 2006) p. 407.
“My Boy Elroy,” Listen Here: Women Writing in Appalachia, Sandra L. Ballard and Patricia L. Hudson, editors, The University of Kentucky Press, Lexington, KY 40508, 2003.
“Family Knots,” Backcountry: Contemporary Writing in West Virginia, Irene McKinney, editor, Vandalia Press at West Virginia University Press, Morgantown, WV 26506, 2002.
“An Introduction to Crum by Lee Maynard,” Crum, Vandalia Press at West Virginia University Press, Morgantown, WV 26506, 2001.
“An Inquiry into Who My Grandmother Really Was,” Bloodroot: Reflections on Place by Appalachian Women Writers, Joyce Dyer, editor, The University of Kentucky Press, Lexington, Kentucky, 1998.
“Frederick Douglass In Newark,” The Teachers & Writers Guide to Frederick Douglass, Wesley Brown, editor, Teachers & Writers Collaborative, New York, 1996.
“Mr. Death,” Old Faithful: 18 Writers Present Their Favorite Writing Assignments, Christopher Edgar and Ron Padgett, editors, Teachers and Writers Collaborative, New York, 1995.
“Writing Dialogue” and “Deep Revision,” Educating the Imagination: Essays and Ideas for Teachers and Writers, Chris Edgar and Ron Padgett, editors, Teachers and Writers Collaborative, New York, 1994.
“My Boy Elroy,” The Available Press, PEN Short Story Collection, Ballantine Books, fall 1985.
“Reading and What Students Write,” Claremont Reading Conference: Forty-Eighth Yearbook, Claremont Graduate School, Claremont CA, 1984.
“Some Thoughts on Dialogue Writing,” The Point (anthology), Think/Ink Books, 1983.
“Luis, A True Story,” Journal of a Living Experiment, Phillip Lopate, editor, Teachers & Writers Press, 1979.
“Some Ideas For Teaching Grammar” (and other short articles), The Whole Word Catalogue 2, Bill Zavatsky and Ron Padgett, editors, McGraw-Hill 1977.
“The Babysitter,” Mademoiselle Prize Stories, M.E. Evans Company, New York, 1975.
 

VIDEO, RADIO, AND PODCASTS WITH MEREDITH SUE WILLIS
December, 2023: Audio recording of MSW reading "The Sweetest Man Who Ever Lived" appeared in Cold Mountain Review.
Summer, 2020: Meredith Sue Willis's "Having Fun with Revision" on Commaful.com.

December 17, 2018:  MSW Interviewed on South Orange Maplewood Community TV program "Books in Action" by Melissa Kopecky

Libraries Today: West Virginia Library Commission Video Interview with Meredith Sue Willis about Their Houses.

"This Week in West Virginia History: WV Public Broadcasting for May 31, 2017." (click title for text, then scroll down to "Listen" for the audio clip.)
June 3, 2011: Podcast inteerview of MSW by Eric Fritzius :West Virginia Writers Podcast.
 
Radio review of Out of the Mountains by Roberta Schultz aired on an NPR affiliate in Cincinnati (WVXU 91.7 FM) on May 15, 2011.  The program was AROUND CINCINNATI at https://www.wvxu.org/schedule/program.asp?id=26 , and the review is here.



ESSAYS, ARTICLES, AND REVIEWS BY MEREDITH SUE WILLIS
"Foote" A Mystery Novel," by Tom Bredehoft, review at Southern Literary Review, November 2, 2022.
"Meredith Sue Willis is a Double Agent," blog post essay at "Booktimist," June 14, 2018.
"Problems with Point-of-View in Piano in a Sycamore, edited by Silas House and Marianne Worthington (Hindman Settlement House).
Spring 2017: MSW's interview with her former student Helen Wan, author of The Partner Track at the NYUSPS Center for Applied Liberal Arts blog.
"Shaping Longer Works of Fiction," Teachers & Writers Magazine, Spring 2017.
"A Summer Ago: A Novel by George Scarbrough," Appalachian Journal, Volume 39 Numbers 3-4, Spring/Summer 2012, p. 372. (Review)
Lee Maynard's The Scummers , Now & Then: The Appalachian Magazine ( Winter 2013, Vol. 28, No. 2).
"Seven Layers to Revising Your Novel" is in the November/December 2012 issue of The Writer Magazine (Vol. 125, Issue 11), www.writermag.com.
August 2011 MSW's article "Jump Start Your Novel" appeared on Laura Bentley's "Open Mic" blog with Q & A
"Meredith Sue Willis on Writing Novels" at Creative Writing Now , Posted September 27, 2010.
“On World Building in Fiction,” The Writer, Volume 123 Number 9, September 2010, p. 8.
Sample from Ten Strategies to Write Your Novel, Montemayor Website.
"Improve Your Fiction With Film Techniques ," The Writer, Volume 123, Number 4, April 2010, p. 26 - 28.
“Perspective,” Integral: The Journal of Fund for an Open Society (Spring 2009 https://integralonline.wordpress.com/about/.)
“Seduced into Consciousness: The Art of Jayne Anne Phillips,” Appalachian Heritage (Volume 37, Number 1, Winter 2009), p. 22. (Also online).
Review of Blood Kin, Novel by Mark Powell, Now & Then: The Appalachian Magazine, Volume 23, Number 2, Fall/Winter 2007, p. 69.
“How To Get a Novel Started,” The Writer, Volume 120, Number 7, July 2007, p. 34.
“From A Space Apart to Oradell at Sea,” Appalachian Heritage: A Literary Magazine of the Southern Appalachians, Vol. 34, No. 4, Fall 2006, p. 33.
“The Clam Shell: Opening to Life and Resolute Passion,” Mary Lee Settle issue, Appalachian Heritage, Volume 34, Number 1, Winter 2006, p. 73.
No Lonesome Road: Selected Prose and Poems of Don West,” edited by Jeff Biggers and George Brosi, “ The Ethical Culture Review of Books (online review), https://www.ethicalreview.org/articles/nolonesomeroad.html (May, 2006).
"Examining the Truth About Women's Lives: The Fiction of Gretchen Moran Laskas,Appalachian Heritage, Volume 33, Number 1, Winter 2005, p.19. "In Their Own Country," (Review of CD set of interviews with West Virginia writers), Appalachian Journal, Volume 32, Number 2, Winter 2005, p. 254.
“Keith Maillard--Five Novels of Raysburg, West Virginia," (Essay-review), Appalachian Journal, Volume 31, Number 34, Spring/Summer 2004.\"Lee Maynard's Screaming with the Cannibals,"(Review of novel), Appalachian Heritage, Volume 31, Number 1, Winter 2004, p.64.
"The Midwife's Tale, by Gretchen Moran Laskas, " The Ethical Culture Review of Books (online review), https://www.ethicalreview.org/articles/midwifestale.html (March, 2003).
“At Home in the Heart of Appalachia, by John O’Brien (Review of memoir), Appalachian Journal,  Volume 29, Number 3, Spring 2002
Dialogue: the Spine of Fiction,” BigCityLit, (online journal), March 2002, https://www.bigcitylit.com/mar2002/contents/ArticleWillisPanel.html
“For West Virginia Families, ‘Starting Points’ Is Just Around the Bend” in Rima Shore, What Kids Need: Today’s Best Ideas for Nurturing, Teaching, and Protecting Young Children (Boston: Beacon Press, 2002), p. 172.
“On Cutting,” Big City Lit (online journal), September 2001, https://www.nycbigcitylit.com/sep2001/contents/Articles.html.
“The Business of Books, by André Schiffrin,” The Ethical Culture Review of Books  (online review), https://www.ethicalreview.org/articles/bookbusiness.html  (March, 2001).
"Clay's Quilt" by Silas House, The Ethical Culture Review of Books (online review),
https://www.ethicalreview.org/articles/claysquilt.html  (March, 2001).
“Brier Country: Stories from Blue Valley by Elaine Fowler Palencia” (Review of short story collection), Appalachian Journal, Volume 28, Number 1, Fall 2000.
“Between the Flowers: A Book with a View”(Review of novel by Harriette Simpson Arnow), Southern Exposure: A Journal of Politics & Culture, Vol. XXVIII, No. 1 & 2, Spring/Summer 2000.
“Shaping Longer Works of Fiction,” Teachers and Writers, Vol. 32, No. 1, p.12, September-October 2000.
“Cross Country Team Makes Community Proud,”  South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race Newsletter, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2000, p. 5.
“The Cluetrain Manifesto,” The Ethical Culture Review of Books (Online Review), https://www.ethicalreview.org/articles/cluetrain.html  (August, 2000).
“Folk Culture and My Family,” Traditions of West Virginia Folk Culture and Educational Awareness (Fairmont State College, 1201 Locust Avenue, Fairmont, WV 26554),  Volume 5, 1999, pp 37 - 39.
“Alfred Maund's The Big Boxcar,” The Ethical Culture Review of Books (Online Review), https://www.ethicalreview.org/articles/bigboxcar.html   (April, 1999).
“Michael Chitwood's The Weave Room,” The Ethical Culture Review of Books (Online Review), https://www.ethicalreview.org/articles/theweaveroom.html  (March, 1999).
“George Eliot's Felix Holt the Radical,” The Ethical Culture Review of Books (online review), https://www.ethicalreview.org/articles/felixholt.html  (March, 1999).
“Why Public Schools?,” South Orange/Maplewood Community Coaltion on Race Newsletter, Vol.  2., No.  2, Fall 1998.  (This essay also appeared in the Maplewood-South Orange News-Record and in the online journal of the American Ethical Union, Ethics Matters).
“Marketing Meat,” (Review of  My Year of Meats, novel Ruth L. Ozeki), In These Times, May 31, 1998.
" The Ballads of  Sharyn McCrumb,” (Essay on the Ballad Novels of Sharyn McCrumb),   Appalachian Journal, Volume 25, Number 3, Spring 1998.
“Poets and Big-Mouth Dames,” (Review of Rhonda the Rubber Woman by Norma Peterson), In These Times, February 8, 1998.
“Three First Novels,” (Essay on That Summer by Sarah Dessen, Life Without Water by Nancy Peacock, and The Distances from the Heart of Things by Ashley Warlick), North Carolina Literary Review, Issue Number 6, 1997.
“Southern Stories: Body Parts by Jere Hoar,” (Book review of short story collection), In These Times, November 23, 1997.
“Witness in the Nightmare Country: Jayne Anne Phillips” (Essay on Phillips’s fiction),  Appalachian Journal, Volume 24, Number 1, Fall 1996
“How Far I've Come—And How Close I Still Am,” Iron Mountain Review, (Department of English, Box 64, Emory & Henry College, Emory, VA 24327), Volume XII, Spring 1996, pp 4-5
“The Impact of Racism and What Can Be Done” (Op-ed piece),  News-Record of Maplewood and South Orange, Thursday, July 18, 1996.
“Finding the Answer in Local School System” (Op-ed piece), News-Record of Maplewood and South Orange, Thursday, March 14, 1996.
“Come Go Home With Me: Stories by Sheila Kay Adams” (Review),  Appalachian Journal, Volume 23, Number 2, Winter 1996
“Serpents Will Destroy Sister Communities” (Op-ed piece),  News-Record of Maplewood and South Orange, Thursday, May 18, 1995.
“Barbara Kingsolver: Moving On,” (Essay on Kingsolver's fiction), Appalachian Journal, Volume 22, Number 1, Fall 1994.
“What I Know About Scott County, Tennessee” (Essay),  Appalachian Heritage: A Magazine of Southern Appalachian Life & Culture, Vol. 22, No. 2, Spring 1994.
“Stories My Father Told,” Appalachian Heritage: A Magazine of Southern Appalachian Life & Culture, Volume 19, No. 2, (Berea College, Berea, KY 40403).
“Writing Out of the Region,” Appalachian Journal, Volume 18, Number 3, Spring 1991 (University Hall, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608).
“Blazing Pencils: Writing Fiction in Junior High School,” Teachers & Writers, Vol. 22, No. 1., Fall 1990.
"Language Enlivens a Tale of One Dead,” (review of A Virtuous Woman, novel by Kaye Gibbons).  The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 21, 1989.
"Stories With A Sense of Place,” (Review of three collections of short stories: A Gravestone Made of Wheat, by Will Weaver; The Watch, by Rick Bass; and Love Life by Bobbie Ann Mason), Washington Post Book World, March 26, 1989.
“Yes to Family, No to Monogamy,” (Review of In Every Woman's Life..., novel by Alix Kates Shulman). The New York Times Book Review, May 31, 1987.
“A Gene for Flawed Competence,” (Review of Only the Little Bone, a short story cycle by David Huddle).  The New York Times Book Review, September 14, 1986. . Archived online at https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE1D91E30F937A2575AC0A960948260
Ghost Dance,” (review of novel by Carole Maso). The New York Times Book Review, July 20, 1986.
“Like Grown-Ups, and Different,” (Review of The Child as Poet: Myth or Reality?, a book on education by Myra Cohn Livingston). The New York Times Book Review, March 10, 1985. Archived online at https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9803E7D91039F933A25750C0A96394826
“Writing Fiction: A Review,” Teachers & Writers Magazine, Vol. 14, No. 5.
“One Big Happy Family.” (review). The American Book Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, January-February, 1983.
“Frozen Sunlight and The Mutants,” Teachers & Writers Magazine, Vol. 14, No. 3, January-February, 1983.
“Found Materials: An Interview with Gen Fowler,” The Phoenix (newspaper, Brooklyn, New York), February 4, 1983.
“Writing with Power,” (review of Writing With Power by Peter Elbow), Teachers & Writers Magazine, Vol.13, No. 1.
“Michael and Dalton on the Air,” Teachers & Writers Magazine, Vol. 10, No.2.
“Some Writing Lessons Using Dialogue,” Teachers & Writers Magazine, Vol. 10, No.1.
“WPS75: Broadcasting with Awesome Regularity,” WBAI Folio, April 1978.
“Fiction for Public Schools,” Teachers & Writers Magazine, Vol. 9, No. 1.
“Teachers & Writers Collaborative,” The English Record, Vol. 27, Nos. 3-4.
“Spinoffs: The Fotonovela and the Marriage of Narrative and Art,” Teachers & Writers Magazine, Vol. 8, No. 1.
“Linguistics for the Public Schools,” Teachers & Writers Magazine, Vol. 7, No. 3.
“Notes on Fiction Scripts for Film and Video,” Teachers and Writers Collaborative Newsletter, Vol. 6, No. 3.
“Playing,” Teachers & Writers Collaborative Newsletter, Vol. 6, No. 1.
“Mid-Evil Times,” Teachers & Writers Collaborative Newsletter, Vol. 5, No. 2.
 
POETRY
“New Jersey Nostalgia,” NJOnline: Book Forum, February 1-15, 1996 (World Wide Web publication).
"American Nostalgia,” Night Season,  December 1995, Fairmont State College, Fairmont, WV.
“Little Hands in the Wreckage,” Poets On: Surviving, Vol. VII, No. 1, Winter 1983.
“Cloud Poem,” Visions #11, 1983.
 
 
SELECTED PRIZES, GRANTS, AND HONORS (Literary and Community)
October 17, 2020: MSW was honored for her twenty plus years of working for intentional integration by the South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race. See details here, and scroll down to read her remarks.

Coalition on Race Zoom Celebration 10-17-20
January 8, 2017: MSW received the Beloved Community Award of the South Orange Civic Organization.
April 22, 2013: MSW received the Davis-Jackson award as an alumna of the Harrison County, WV, Schools. Read the article in the Clarksburg Exponent-Telegram.
April 2013: MSW received a Faculty Service Award from New York University for 30 years of adjunct teaching at the School of Continuing and Professional Studies.
Winter, 2010: Appalachian Heritage Denny C. Plattner Prize for nonfiction for “Seduced into Consciousness: The Art of Jayne Anne Phillips,” Appalachian Heritage (Volume 37, Number 1, Winter 2009), p. 22.
November, 2007: South Orange, NJ Villager of the Month.
Summer, 2007: Billie of Fish House Lane the Two Towns One Children’s Book selection for South Orange and Maplewood, New Jersey.
May 19, 2007, Sal Santaniello Humanitarian of the Year, presented by the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County, New Jersey.
October, 2006 Featured author, Appalachian Heritage: A Literary Magazine of the Southern Appalachians, Vol. 34, No. 4, Fall 2006.
September, 2006 Featured at Emory & Henry College, Emory, Virginia: Twenty Fifth Annual Iron Mountain Review Appalachian Literature festival.
May 16, 2004: Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, West Virginia University
1999 - 2003: Distinguished Teaching Artist of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts
2002 Appalachian Heritage Denny C. Plattner Prize for short story “Big Boss Is Back,” appearing in the Fall 2002 issue of Appalachian Heritage.
2001 Chaffin Journal Fiction Prize for “The Two Lindas.”
Spring, 1999: Writer-in-Residence, Fairmont State College, Fairmont, WV.
Summer, 1998: Second Place, Shenango River Books ( P.O. Box 631, Sharon, PA 16146) Novella Contest for The Mentor.
1996: Shinnston High School Hall of Fame
November 1995:  Fourteenth Annual Appalachian Literary Festival of  Emory & Henry College, Emory, VA, “Meredith Sue Willis Literary Festival.”
1994-95: New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship in Fiction.
1990: West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival Non-Italian Woman of the Year.
1989: New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship in Fiction.
1984: NEA/PEN Syndicated Fiction Contest Winner for the short story, “Sigma Chi.”
1983: NEA/PEN Syndicated Fiction Contest winner for the short story, “My Boy Elroy.”
1980: Literary Award of the West Virginia Library Association
1978: National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Creative Writing.
1978: Bernard De Voto Fellowship in Fiction, Breadloaf Writers' Conference.
1976: Mary Roberts Rinehart Foundation Fellowship.
1976: Writers Digest Short Story Contest Winner.
1969: Mademoiselle College Fiction Contest Winner.
Summer, 1968: Barnard College Summer Fellowship in Creative Writing
 
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
National Writers Union
The Authors' Guild
Poets, Essayists, and Novelists (PEN)
Society of Children's Book Writers
National Book Critics Circle
 
 
EDITORIAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Editor and publisher, Books for Readers: An Online Review of Books, (periodical commentary on new, old, and rediscovered books): https://www.meredithsuewillis.com/booksforreaders.html
Co-editor, The Hamilton Stone Review, online literary journal.
2009 - 2012 Blog Literature and the Web: Thinking about the Intersection
Editor, Special All-West Virginia Issue of the Hamilton Stone Review, Fall 2008.
Editorial Board, 2006 Issue of North Carolina Literary Review, No. 15, East Carolina University Department of English, 2201 Bate Building, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858-4353
2001 - 2005 Co-editor, The Ethical Culture Review of Books, online review of books from an Ethical Culture perspective, https://www.ethicalculture.org/review.
2002 - 2004 Fiction Editor, Epiphany, (https://www.epiphanyzine.com, New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies Literary Journal (online and hard copy).
 
 
 
SELECTED PUBLIC READINGS, SPEECHES, AND LECTURES (LIVE AND RECORDED)
May 12, 2021 Stories with Soul.  MSW's story "Elvissa and the Rabbi" was read by Birgit Matzerath at "Stories with Soul."
Summer, 2020: Meredith Sue Willis's "Having Fun with Revision" on Commaful.com.
October 15, 2019: MSW's presentration at "Lunch with Books" in Wheeling, West Virginia: "West Virginia writer Discusses the Importance of Fiction"

October 9, 2019 MSW read with Marc Harshman and Valerie Nieman at McNally Jackson Prince Street
June 9, 2019 d6 -9-19 Meredith Sue Willis with Alice Robinson-Gilman spoke at the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County on Personal Reflections after 25 years at Essex Ethical Culture Society."
May 16, 2019 Meredith Sue Willis was the featured speaker in Charleston for the WV LibraryCommission's "Letters About Literature."
December 17, 2018 MSW Interviewed on South Orange Maplewood Community Television by Melissa Kopecky.
Thursday, November 29: Reading at the Jefferson Market Library in New York City with Diane Simmons.
Wednesday, November 14, 2018: Reading at Next Year's Words: A New Paltz Reading Forum, Jewish Congregation of New Paltz Community Center,New Paltz, New York.
Tuesday, October 16, 2018: Reading at WORDS bookstore in Maplewood, New Jersey.
October 26, 2018: Workshop on Revising Your Novel at West Virginia annual book festival, Charleston, WV.
Thursday, October 11, 2018: Presentation to , Write Group, Montclair Library, Montclair, New Jersey.
September 23, 2018: Reading at Four Seasons Bookstore, Shepherdstown, WV.
Saturday, Sept 22, 2018: Writing Workshop and Reading, Clarksburg, WV Library, Clarksburg, WV.
Friday,Sept 21, 2018: Workshop/Discussion Barnes & Noble, Morgantown, WV.
Wednesday, September 19, 2018: Workshop/Discussion Parkersburg Wood County Library, Parkersburg, WV.
Tuesday, September 18, 2018: Reading with poet Rich Campbell at Folklife Center, Fairmont State University, Fairmont, WV.
Monday September 17, 2018: Reading with Ginny Savage Ayers, Writers Can Read, Huntington WV.
May 6, 2018: Lecture at the morning program of the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County on "A Novelist in the Digital Age: The Good, Bad, and the Ugly.
February 2, 2017: Reading at Nally Jackson Bookstore, New York City.
June 28, 2014: Pearl S. Buck lecture, Pearl Buck birthplace, Hillsboro, West Virginia.
June 14-16, 2013: Fiction master class at the 2013 Mountain Heritage Literary Festival festival, at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee.
September 29 - 30, 2011: MSW gave a paper at the Emory & Henry College's 30th Literary Festival celebrating Barbara Kingsolver on Kingsolver's The Lacuna as a political novel.
July 13-15, 2011: MSW presented workshops at the Clarksville Writers Conference, in Clarksville, Tennessee.
June 10 - 12, 2011: MSW was the keynote speaker as well as giving workshops and a reading at the 33rd annual West Virginia Writers Conference at Cedar Lakes, West Virginia,.
April 12, 2011: MSW Gave workshop "Revising Your Book" at the NYU Bookstore .
March 14, 2011: MSW read from Out of the Mountains at Teachers & Writers with Edith Konecky. at Teachers & Writers Collaborative, New York City.
September 24, 2010: Words Bookstore, Maplewood, New Jersey. See article here.
February 28, 2010: “We All Live Downstream: On Mountaintop Removal.” Sunday morning platform at the Essex Ethical Culture Society of Essex County with Alice Robinson-Gilman.
February 28, 2010: Luna Literary Lounge, reading at Luna Theater in Orange, New Jersey.
October 17, 2008: Read from In the Mountains of America at the “Apples for Appalachia” Festival at the Ardsley United Methodist Church, Ardsley, New York
June 5, 2008: "Writing the Chapter Book for Children" at the North Wildwood Beach Writers Conference, Wildwood, New Jersey.
May 11, 2008: “We Were Your Children: 1968 - 2008 “ Sunday morning platform of the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County.
April 26, 2008: read from Trespassers at at Altshul Auditorium at Columbia University. This was part of a four day remembrance and discussion of the Columbia student strikes of 1968 .
March 4, 2008: MSW read from Oradell at Sea and led a discussion at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library in Wheeling, West Virginia.
February 1, 2008: Read "What I Learned in First Grade" at the Associated Writng Programs Conference on , part of a collection on schooling and education called After the Bell: Contemporary American Prose about School , edited by Maggie Anderson and David Hassler.
July 31, 2007: Featured reader, Appalachian Writers Workshop, Hindman, Kentucky
July 12 & July 17, 2007: “Meet the Author” at Maplewood, New Jersey Library and South Orange, New Jersey Library
November 10, 2006: Featured reader, Appalachian Heritage First Annual Featured Readers event, Berea College, Berea, Kentucky.
September 23, 2006: Featured reader at Emory & Henry College, Emory, Virginia: Twenty Fifth Annual Iron Mountain Review Appalachian Literature festival.
June 27, 2006: The Clemente Soto Velez Center, Lower East Side, New York, NY
May 13, 2006: Reading for Kids and Others, The Goat Cafe, South Orange, New Jersey
.April 4, 2006: Featured reader at Ramapo State College, New Jersey.
West Virginia Writers Conference, June 4-6, 2004, Cedar Lakes Conference Center, Ripley, West Virginia. "The Scene in Fiction;" "Using Techniques of Cinema in Fiction Writing,"
April, 2004: Fiction Festival, West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon, West Virginia.
"The New Appalachian Literature," What Regional Writers Eat series, July 12, 2003, Conkling Hall, Renssalaerville, New York.
"The Ethics of Fiction Writing," Sunday morning Platform at the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County, NJ, March 16, 2003 (Also, Sunday Morning Platform of the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County, NJ, September 14, 2004 and at the South Orange (New Jersey) Library, January 8, 2004).
June 4, 2004: West Virginia Writers Conference, Cedar Lakes, West Virginia.
April, 2004: Fiction Festival, West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon, West Virginia.
Watchung Bookstore, Montclair, NJ, April 3, 2003.
February 19, 2003: “Getting Your Novel Started,” Barnes & Noble, Route 22, Springfield, New Jersey.
March 27, 2003.: Featured reader, Marshall University, Huntington, WV.
January 21, 2003: Teachers & Writers Collaborative, Backountry Writers.
November 2, 2002: Mountaineer Week, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV.
October 12, 2002: “Breaking Into Children’s Literature,” Panel  at Second Annual West Virginia Book Festival, Charleston, West Virginia.
October 2001: “Getting Published,” Panel at West Virginia Book Festival, Charleston, West Virginia.
March 7, 2002:KGB Bar (85 E 4th Street, NYC), BigCityLit’s "Degrees of Apprenticeship" reading/recording series, special guest.
May 16, 1999: Skylands Writers Association, Centenary College, Hackettstown, NJ, March 26, 2000.
Moroccan Star, Brooklyn, NY.
Kestrel Conference, Fairmont, WV, April 10, 1999.
Book 'N Bean Café, Fairmont, WV, February 27, 1999.
The Writer's Voice,  New York, NY, May 1, 1998.
First Night performer, Maplewood-South Orange, NJ First Night, Dec. 31, 1997.
Midmanhattan Library, New York, NY.  November 19, 1997.
Housing Works Bookstore Café, New York, NY, October 23, 1997.
Glenville State College, April 26, 1996.
Midmanhattan Library, New York, NY.  February 8, 1996.
Emory & Henry College, Emory, VA, November 9, 1995.
Friends of the Library Reading, Wise County Public Library, Big  Stone Gap, VA, November 8, 1995.
Barnes & Noble Bookstore, Livingston, NJ, March 13, 1995.
Dixon Place, New York, NY.  February 2, 1995.
Montclair Public Library, Montclair, NJ.  January 29, 1995.
Midmanhattan Library, New York, NY.  November 30, 1994.
 
SELECTED LECTURES, PANELS, AND WORKSHOP PRESENTATIONS
June 9-11, 2023 West Virginia Writers Conference, Cedar Lakes Conference Center, Ripley, West Virginia. Presented a Master Class on Description; Strategies for Revising Long Prose Narratives; and Cultural Appropriation and Cancel Culture in fiction writing.
May 11, 2023 MSW paid a virtual visit to the Between the Lines Book Club at the Clarksburg Library, Clarksburg,WV to discuss Their Houses.
4-23-23  MSW with Andy Weinberger presented A Celebration of Shakespeare at the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County, NJ.
4-19-23:  MSW enjoyed a virtual visit with Heather Lustig-Curran's creative writing club at Louisa County High School in Mineral, Virginia.
Spring 2023: Starting and Sustaining Your Novel, Part II. A private online class. See MSW's information on private classes here.
January 2017: Short & Helpful Online Writing Workshops: "Developing and Creating Characters"
June 2014: Master Class in Fiction, Allegheny Echoes Bluegrass workshops, Marlinton, West Virginia.
June 14-16, 2013: Fiction master class at the 2013 Mountain Heritage Literary Festival festival, at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee.
"Writing Out of the Mountains" at the Annual Authors' Luncheon of the Woman's Club of Little Falls, New Jersey on November 9, 2010.
"Narration in the Novel" and "Finding Material for Short Stories" at the West Virginia Literary Arts Program in Morgantown, WV on June 21, 2008.
“Beginning Your Novel,”  Writers Conference at Penn, October 14, 2006. Writing Conference at the University of Pennsylvania.
“The Scene in Fiction;” “Using Techniques of Cinema in Fiction Writing,” West Virginia Writers Conference, June 4-6, 2004, Cedar Lakes Conference Center, Ripley, West Virginia.
“The New Appalachian Literature,” What Regional Writers Eat series, July 12, 2003, Conkling Hall, Renssalaerville, New York.
“The Ethics of Fiction Writing,” Sunday morning Platform at the Ethical Culture Society of Bergen County, NJ, March 16, 2003 (Also, Sunday Morning Platform of the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County, NJ, September 14, 2004 and at the South Orange (New Jersey) Library, January 8, 2004).
December 2000: “Writing With Your Child,” Workshop for bilingual parents, New York City Public Schools Department of Bilingual Education, Brooklyn, New York.
February 23, 1999: “Folk Culture: Degrees of Removal,” West Virginia Folklore Society, Alumni House, Fairmont State College, Fairmont, WV.
February 23, 1999: “An Inquiry Into My Grandmother,” Arts and Language Arts Educators, Fairmont State College, Fairmont, WV.
May 24, 1998: “What I Learned from the Nineteen-Sixties,” Bergen Ethical Culture Society, Teaneck, New Jersey.
April 26, 1998: “What I Learned from the Nineteen-Sixties,” Essex Ethical Culture Society, Maplewood, New Jersey.
March 28, 1998: “Personal Fiction Writing,” New York City Public Schools Department of Bilingual Education, South Bronx High School, Bronx, NY.
February 28, 1998: Deep Revision Workshop, Sarah Lawrence Graduate School, Bronxville, New York.

 

 

CONTEST JUDGING , AND SELECTION PANELS
Judge at Poetry Outloud at Columbia High School in Maplewood, NJ, 1-18-17
Judge, Emerging Writers contest, West Virginia Writers 2007 & 2008.
Judge, Emerging Writers contest, West Virginia Writers 2001 & 2002.
Juror, Maryland State Arts Council, Fiction Panel, 2000.
Juror, Short short story contest, Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, 1997.
Judge, West Virginia Writers novel contest, 1996.
Screener, Associated Writing Programs Award Series in the novel, 1995. Selected a novel No New Jokes that was chosen by Judge Ron Carlson as the contest winner and subsequently published by Norton.
Certification Panel for Writers-in-the-schools, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, 1994.
New York Foundation Fiction Fellowship Panel, 1989.

 

EDUCATION AND ACADEMIC HONORS
Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, May 16, 2004, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia
Master of Fine Arts, June 1972, School of the Arts Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
Bachelor of Arts, June 1969, Barnard College, New York, N.Y. Phi Beta Kappa,  Magna Cum Laude,  Honors in English,  Estelle M. Ellison Prize for Excellence in Literature.
Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, 1964-1966, Freshman Women's Honorary, Freshman Prize in English.
 
 
TEACHING AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS
(For one-shot teaching assignments and workshops, click here.)
2010-- Present: Adjunct Assistant Professor of Creative Writing, New York University, School of Professional Studies.
1983— 2010: Instructor, New York University, School of Professional and Continuing Studies. Created “Beginning Your Novel,” “Making Your Novel Happen,” and “Jump Start Your Novel.” Developed and taught the first online section of “Fiction II.” Presently teach “Novel I,” “Novel II,” “Jump Start Your Novel,” and “Fiction I.” Have also taught “Short Story Writing,” “Structuring Your Novel,” and “Mastering New Writing Styles.”
June, 2023 West Virginia Writers Conference, Cedar Lakes Conference Center, Ripley, West Virginia. Presented a Master Class on Description; Strategies for Revising Long Prose Narratives; and Cultural Appropriation and Cancel Culture in fiction writing.

1988—2018: Writer-in-the-Schools, New Jersey State Council on the Arts and Arts Council of the Essex Area.  Workshops for elementary school students, junior high and high school students, and teachers in Bergen, Essex, Morris, Union, and Monmouth counties, New Jersey, and in the Newark Project.
January 2017: Short & Helpful Online Writing Workshops: "Developing and Creating Characters"
2007 — 2009: Literacy Consultant, Newark Museum Arts Catalyst Program for the Board of Education of Jersey City, New Jersey.
Summer 2008: Workshop/lectures "Narration in the Novel" and "Finding Material for Short Stories" at the West Virginia Literary Arts Program in Morgantown, West Virginia.
2006 — present: Adult School of Chatham and Madison (New Jersey): Writing Prose Narratve
Summer 2007: Faculty member (Nonfiction Writing), Appalachian Writers Workshop, Hindman Settlement School, Hindman, Kentucky.
2002— present: Online prose writing classes: "Summer Stories 2007," "The July High," Jan Plan," etc. For information, see Online Writing Classes with Meredith Sue Willis
Summer 2005: Faculty member (Short Story Writing), Appalachian Writers Workshop, Hindman Settlement School, Hindman, Kentucky.
2002- 2005: Writing workshops for Newark Museum
Summer 2000: Faculty member (Novel Writing), Appalachian Writers Workshop, Hindman Settlement School, Hindman, Kentucky. 
Spring 1999: Artist-in-Residence, Fairmont State College, Fairmont, WV.  Gave readings and lectures, worked with college classes and local high schools.  Created and taught an online creative writing workshop.
1971—2011: Consultant in Creative Writing, Teachers & Writers Collaborative, 5 Union Square West, New York, NY 10003. Workshops for teachers and students from first grade through high school in creative and expository writing. Schools have included PS 321, Brooklyn; IS 258, East New York; Stuyvesant High School; High School of Creative Writing; Hunter College Elementary School; and other schools in the Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Westchester Counties.
July 30 -August 2, 1998: Faculty member, West Virginia Writers' Workshop, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV.  Led workshops and individual critique sessions at writers' conference.
1996: “Writing for Children,” Seton Hall University School of Continuing Education, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ.
1988, 1990, and 1991: Visiting Professor, The Cooper Union Institute for the Advancement of Science and Art, Cooper Square, New York, N.Y. 10003.  Creative writing and Fiction writing.
1991: Workshop Leader, Bennington Writers Conference, Bennington College, Bennington, VT.
1988— 1991:  Mentor, Expository-Writing-by-Mail, Center for the Advancement of Academically Talented Youth, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.  Essay writing for talented 8th— 10th graders through the mail.
1985— 1987: Visiting Lecturer, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn 11205. Classes taught included Public Speaking/Communications and Freshman English.
1981— 1984: Special Lecturer, College of White Plains, Pace University, 78 Broadway, White Plains, N.Y. 10605. Fiction writing, advanced fiction writing, and composition courses.
 

 

SELECTED COMMUNITY SERVICE
2018-2021: Community Volunteer, Heywood Avenue School, Orange, NJ.
1996 - 2021: South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race ; Trustee 1996- 2016; Executive Committee Member 1997- 2001; 2003- 2017.  Co-Chair Schools Committee South Orange Maplewood Community Coaltion on Race 2000-2004; 2006- 2022.  Chair, South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race, 2004 - 2006.
1988 - present: Active Member Ethical Culture Society of Essex County: Member Board of Trustees,  1994 - 1998.  President of the Board of Trustees Ethical Culture Society of Essex County: 1994 - 1998.  Chair, Social Action Committee, Ethical Culture Society of Essex County 1993 - Present.  Co-chair Platform committee (bringing speakers for weekly lectures) 1995-2004.  Platform Committee2021-present.
Webmaster for website of the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County https://www.essexethical.org.
1994 - 1996: Social Action Committee, Friends and Neighbors
1999 - present: co-ordinating editor and webmaster for co-operative press Hamilton Stone Editions, https://www.hamiltonstone.org.