Heather Macfarlane

Biography

Heather has taught in the Department of English and Creative Writing at Queen’s since 2014, after almost a decade of teaching at Carleton University. A comparatist by training, she works in the areas of Canadian, Quebecois, Indigenous and Diaspora literatures. Her publications include work on the literary road narrative; studies of space, place and sovereignty; literary nationalism; and comparative studies. Her recent SSHRC-funded research led to a co-edited special double issue of Canadian Literature, entitled How to Be at Home in Canada: Placemaking in Indigenous, Diaspora and Settler Literatures. She is deeply engaged in demonstrating the relevance and impact of stories and literary production in all areas of contemporary society.

Research Interests

Space, place and sovereignty in Indigenous, diaspora and settler texts in English and French Canada; the role of literature in education, comparative literature; cultural and Canadian studies.

Selected Publications 

• How to Be at Home in Canada: Placemaking in Indigenous, Diaspora and Settler Literatures. Co-Editor with Sophie McCall and Basmah Rahman. Special Double Issue of Canadian Literature, Number 258/259, 2025
• Divided Highways: Road Narrative and Nationhood in Canada, University of Ottawa Press, 2019
• Introduction to Indigenous Literary Criticism in Canada, Broadview Press, 2016 (Co-editor)

Major Publications or Other Books/Chapters/Articles

• “To Reconcile or not to Reconcile: the Case for Comparing Canadian and Indigenous Literatures.” Comparative Literature in Canada. Lexington, 2020. 206-212.
• “The Resurrection of Chanie Wenjack” Canadian Literature. No. 236, 2019. 92-110.
• "Indigeneity in Dialogue: Indigenous Literary Expression Across Linguistic Divides." Introduction and Co-editor, with Jennifer Andrews and Michèle Lacombe. Special issue of Studies in Canadian Literature. 35.2 (Fall 2010).
• “Beyond the Divide: The Use of Native Languages in Anglo- and Franco-Indigenous Theatre.” Studies in Canadian Literature. 35.2. (Fall 2010). 95-109.
• “Pour une autocritique amérindienne: le fantastique de Bernard Assiniwi et l’étude des genres.” Littératures autochtones émergentes. Eds. Maurizio Gatti and Louis-Jacques Dorais. Montréal: Mémoire d’encrier, 2010. 193-206.
• “Volkswagen Blues 25 Years Later: Revisiting Poulin’s Pitsémine.” Studies in Canadian Literature. 34.2. (2009) 1-20.
• “Adventures in Rainbow Country and the Narration of Nationhood.” Journal of Canadian Studies. 40. (Fall 2006) 100-119.