Rachael Hanel, Ph.D.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University
• M.A. in History from Minnesota State University, Mankato
• B.A. in Mass Communications and History from Minnesota State University, Mankato

Biography:
A Waseca, Minnesota, native, Hanel earned a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications and History from Minnesota State University, Mankato, a master’s degree in History from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and a doctorate in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University. Hanel was an adjunct instructor in the department of Mass Media at MSU-Mankato from 2002-12, then moved into instructor and fixed-term roles before starting on the tenure track in the fall of 2016. She has also taught for Rasmussen College, Kaplan University, and Bethany Lutheran College. Her memoir, We’ll Be the Last Ones to Let You Down: Memoir of a Gravedigger’s Daughter, was published in 2013 by the University of Minnesota Press and was a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award. She has written more than twenty nonfiction books for children. She spent seven years as a daily newspaper reporter and copy editor and routinely works as a freelance writer for local and national publications.

Recent Publications:
“Exploring the Midwest/Great Plains Borderlands in Modern Women’s Memoir.” Chapter in The Interior Borderlands, ed. Jon K. Lauck. The Center for Western Studies, 2019.

When Cesar Chavez Climbed the Umbrella Tree. Capstone Press: Mankato, Minn., 2019.

“Dear Mankato,” essay in Slag Glass City, Fall 2018.

“A Taste of Curry,” essay in The Wax Paper, Vol. II, No. 2, 2017.

“In the Balance,” essay in War, Literature & the Arts Folios: Peace, 2017.

“Best Friends.” Chapter in Love and Profanity: A Collection of True, Tortured, Wild, Hilarious, Concise, and Intense Tales of Teenage Life, Switch Press: Mankato, Minn., 2015

We’ll Be the Last Ones to Let You Down: Memoir of a Gravedigger’s Daughter. University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis, Minn., 2013.