Heidi James-Dunbar is Academic Faculty Director and a Lecturer in English Literature and Writing Studies at FIE. She has an MA in Creative Writing, is a recipient of the Sophie Warne Fellowship and was the inaugural student at the London Graduate School for which she received a full studentship to read for her PhD in English Literature. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Heidi has over 10 years’ experience of Higher Education and Study Abroad involvement with a demonstrable record of high-impact teaching, development, and design of course content, effective leadership, research, and scholarship. Previously Heidi served as Course Convenor at FIE; she has also taught at Kingston University, Anglo Educational Services and Roehampton University. She is committed to maintaining and developing academic excellence and student-centered learning in the Study Abroad environment.
Her academic research interests include Speculative Realism and Trauma Testimony in Contemporary Fiction. Heidi’s novel So the Doves was named The Sunday Times Crime Novel of the Month and has recently been published in the USA and Canada. Her novel Wounding was published (also by Bluemoose Books) in April 2014. She was a finalist for the Cinnamon Poetry Collection Prize. Her novella The Mesmerist's Daughter (won the Saboteur Award. Her novel Carbon, was published by Blatt in October 2009 and is published in Spanish by El Tercer Nombre. Her essays, poetry, and short stories have appeared in various publications and anthologies including Dazed and Confused, Next Level, Flux, Brand, Mslexia, Somesuch Stories, Neon, Pulp.net, etc. She presents a podcast on writing, First Graft.
She is the 2015 recipient of FIE’s Dr. Rajini Pani Outstanding Faculty Award.
Dr. James-Dunbar is also a certified MHFA England Mental Health First Aider and is able to identify, understand, and help someone who may be experiencing a mental health issue.
