about
In Brief
Heidi Fettig Parton is a writer, mostly of essays. The possibility, the creativity of the essay form continues to amaze and astound her. Heidi considers herself a perpetual student of the essay. She is currently piecing together a collection of linked essays that explore a woman’s loss of voice at puberty and its reclamation after menopause
Land Acknowledgment
I occupy and write from land that is the ancestral home of the Wahpekute people.
More About Me
While I’ve not always been a Writer writer, I’ve always journaled to understand the world and my place in it.
After earning a BA (summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa) in English at age 21, I went on to earn a Juris Doctorate (with distinction and Order of the Coif), both from the University of North Dakota (graduating as Heidi Hellekson) at 24.
Before a midlife career shift in 2009, I spent 15 years careering, first as a lawyer, and then as an acquisitions editor and Publisher in legal academic publishing. More recently, I served as a publishing manager for Publish Her Press.
In 2014, I fulfilled a long held dream, returning to graduate school and, three years later, earning an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Bay Path University.
In addition to my degrees in higher education, I’ve added many certifications to my name. I am a 200-hour certified yoga instructor (studying under Jonny Kest), a certified Yin Yoga instructor, and an INELDA trained end-of-life doula. I studied ritual creation through Be Ceremonial and create rituals to nurture my own writing practice. I’ve begun sharing some of these rituals on my Writing with Presence Substack.
My writing can be found in many publications, including Angels Flight literary west, Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction, Dorothy Parker’s Ashes, Forge Literary, Fugue, Manifest Station, North Dakota Quarterly, Saint Paul Almanac, Sweet Lit, and The Keepthings. In January of 2023, Brevity nominated my essay “The Once Wife” for Best American Essays 2023. While I didn’t win, Brevity’s confidence in my essay meant everything to me.
In time set aside for self-nurturance, I practice Ashtanga and yin yoga, study Irish mandolin and the Bodhrán, and walk outdoor labyrinths in and around the Twin Cities metro. I regularly commune with trees and listen for their ancient wisdom.
Heidi Fettig Parton 