Dr. Rachael Peckham earned a B.A. degree in English from Hope College in 2002, an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Georgia College and State University in 2004 and a Ph.D. in creative writing from Ohio University in 2009. She is the author of Alight: Flights of Prose (Uncollected Press) and a chapbook, Muck Fire: Prose Poems (Spring Garden Press), which won the Robert Watson Poetry Award. Dr. Peckham’s articles, essays, and poems have received other awards and distinctions, including two honorable mentions in the Best American Essays series, the ½ K Prize at Indiana Review, the Orison Anthology Nonfiction Award, and the Special Feature Literary Nonfiction Award at Crab Orchard Review. Since joining the English Department at Marshall University in 2009, Dr. Peckham has been awarded a Distinguished Artists and Scholars Award for junior faculty; a Pickens-Queen Teaching Award; a Hedrick Teaching Fellowship; the Hedrick Outstanding Faculty Award; and a Notable Alumni Award from Ohio University. Most recently, Dr. Peckham served as the keynote speaker at Marshall’s 2023 Winter Commencement exercises.