about
Heidi Fettig Parton was once an 11-year-old who wanted to be an author … just like Judy Blume. But, as so often happens, she shuffled her authentic dreams to the bottom of the deck in the pressure cooker of growing up,
After earning a BA (summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa) in English at age 21, Heidi went on to get her 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, brought on by the birth of her third child (and second marriage), Heidi spent 15 years careering, first as a lawyer, and then in legal academic publishing.
Writing remained something Heidi hoped to do someday. Then, in 2014, Heidi returned to graduate school and, three years later, earned an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Bay Path University, where she honed her writing craft and gained knowledge in the business side of literary publishing. Currently, Heidi serves as associate publisher of Publish Her, a female-founded and focused publisher, dedicated to elevating the words, writings and stories of women.
In addition to her work at Publish Her, Heidi is writing a novel entitled Meg Falls Down (Gets Back Up), about Meg Mitchell, a 31-year-old mother and reluctant career woman confronted with an unexpected divorce. Through the help of supportive friends, co-workers, and a good therapist, Meg learns to embrace the practice of falling down, and rising once again. Heidi is also assembling a collection of essays that aim to interrogate loss, in the specific ways it has swelled and receded in her life.
Heidi’s writing can be found, or is forthcoming, in many publications, including Angels Flight literary west, Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction, Entropy, Forge Literary Magazine, Fugue Journal, The Manifest-Station, Multiplicity, North Dakota Quarterly, Saint Paul Almanac, and Sweet Lit. She also has an essay in the 2021 Her Path Forward anthology.
In time set aside for self-nurturance, Heidi practices yin yoga, and studies Irish mandolin and the Bodhrán at the Center for Irish Music. She makes time to walk outdoor labyrinths and to hike the dedicated natural spaces in and around the Twin Cities metro. Heidi regularly hugs trees and listens for their ancient wisdom. She is grateful for the many excellent podcasts that keep her company during her frequent bouts of menopausal insomnia.
Heidi Fettig Parton 