Mary Hays

Mary Hays is a Principal Lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign within the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. Her academic focus centers on Creative Writing with specializations in Poetry, Short Stories, and Creative Non-Fiction. She holds an MFA in Fiction from Murray State University and an MA in Poetry and Fiction from The City College of New York.

• Principal Lecturer, Department of English (2015–present)
• Director, Creative Writing Program (implied through teaching role)
• Affiliate, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
• Resident of Urbana, Illinois

Her research explores literary-artistic intersections, particularly focusing on:

• Female agency in contemporary fiction
• Intertextuality between visual art and text
• Domestic spaces as narrative sites
• Materiality of text in artistic creation
• Gendered interpretations of art
• Knitting as metaphorical text

Key publication trends across her 25-year career include:

• Contemporary prairie literature
• Urban-rural identity tensions
• Biblical and classical allusions
• Experimental narrative structures
• Everyday heroism in domestic contexts
• Artistic process as narrative subject

Scientific awards include:

• Jesse Stuart Fellowship (2015–16)
• Gwendolyn Brooks Award for Poetry (2007)

She contributes to academic discourse through literary-artistic analysis and creative pedagogy, evidenced by her published works examining:

• David's artistic process (2017–2019)
• Tristan's sculptural metaphors (2017)
• Material experimentation in art (2015–2019)
• Gender dynamics in creative partnerships (2017)