Helene Kiser

Award-winning educator with work published in Today (NBC), Business Insider, and Huffington Post

Helene Kiser is the author of Topography (Linear Arts) and is at work on her second book, a memoir. Her writing has appeared in dozens of literary magazines, anthologies, and national outlets such as Today (NBC), Business Insider, and Huffington Post, and been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize.

A university faculty member, Helene teaches courses in commercial and creative writing, including personal essays, narrative and journalistic nonfiction, memoir, and writing for social media, and she originated the writing portfolio capstone seminar for English majors. She was awarded the ETS Recognition of Excellence for her subject matter expertise and earned the John Sperling Distinguished Faculty Award in 2023. A former editor for Sycamore Review and Barnes & Noble’s online PowerEd courses, Helene was a columnist and subject matter expert for Crosswalk.com and Education.com.

Helene earned a Master of Fine Arts from the Warren Wilson College Program for Writers and a Master of Arts from Purdue University; she has been a resident fellow in creative nonfiction at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She is a certified grief coach and a freelance editor who specializes in working with writers over age 50, especially women. Her propriety framework for writing, the Butterfly Blueprint, holds a federally-registered trademark. Helene writes an always free bi-weekly newsletter, Editorial Notes, on the business of writing and self-editing.

For more information, visit helenekiser.com.