Mrs. Hetzel Contributes to Critical Anthology

Upper School English Teacher Mrs. Elizabeth Hetzel has published an article in the recently-released Critical Insights: Edith Wharton, an anthology of critical essays on the author and her work produced by Salem Press. The essay, “Of Money, Love, and Art: Edith Wharton’s Cultural Study of War,” marks Mrs. Hetzel’s first published academic article.

“I have studied Wharton closely and have found her to be pretty radical for her time,” Hetzel said. “Wharton’s ‘domestic’ stories of gender and class (like The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth) are taught frequently in high school and college, so my co-author and I wanted to highlight the influence of World War I on her artistic interests and personal concerns. Wharton’s war literature reflects the universal experience of human suffering and the hope of unity through pain—and art— across class lines.”

In addition to her academic publication, Mrs. Hetzel has served as a freelance writer and also composes fiction, with several published poems in her portfolio. She is currently drafting two short stories.

Mrs. Hetzel has previously been selected as a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Scholar, one of 25 applicants selected to attend an NEH summer institute from a national pool of candidates. The NEH is a federal agency that supports enrichment opportunities at colleges, universities, and cultural institutions, pairing teachers with experts in humanities disciplines. Mrs. Hetzel participated in a summer institute titled “Tales from the Chihuahuan Desert: Borderlands Narratives about Identity and Binationalism” at The University of Texas at El Paso.

Mrs. Hetzel has taught at Holy Spirit Prep since 2016.