Heather Neilson

Senior Lecturer in English and Media Studies
Senior Lecturer

Heather Neilson has taught in the English and Media Studies program at UNSW@ADFA since 1995. She previously worked at the University of Sydney and the University of Western Australia. From 1998 to 2002, she was president of the Australian and New Zealand American Studies Association. From July 2002 to July 2005, she was the Australasian representative on the International Committee of the (US-based) American Studies Association. She was the Literary Reviews editor of the Australasian Journal of American Studies (AJAS) from 1996 to 2004, a co-editor of AJAS from 2008 to 2015, and resumed the role of Literary Reviews editor in 2015 until 2022.

 

Dr Neilson's research interests are primarily in the area of American studies, particularly fictional and cinematic representations of historical/political events. She also researches in the general area of intertextuality, with a special interest in popular culture adaptations of the classics.

Postgraduate Supervision
  • American literature and culture
  • The novel (primarily British and American)
  • Biography and autobiography

For her Engagement story please click

PUBLICATIONS

Books
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Neilson HL, 2014, Political Animal: Gore Vidal on Power, Monash University Publishing, Melbourne, http://www.publishing.monash.edu/index.html
2014
Book Chapters
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Neilson H, 2022, 'Vidal, Gore', in Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Fiction, Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 1355 - 1360
2022
Neilson HL, 2016, 'Herodotus in Fiction: Gore Vidal's _Creation_', in Priestley J; Zali V (ed.), Brill's Companion to the Receptions of Herodotus in Antiquity and Beyond, edn. Brill's Compnaions to Classical Reception, Brill, Leiden/Boston, pp. 367 - 388
2016
Neilson HL, 2016, 'Owning Anzac Day: _The One Day of the Year_', in ANZAC DAY: Then and Now, UNSW Press, Sydney, pp. 127 - 140
2016
Neilson HL, 2011, 'The Friendly Ghosts of Gore Vidal', in Dobson M; Woodall J (ed.), Where we fell to Earth: Writing for Peter Conrad, edn. Original, Christchurch College, Oxford, Oxford, Great Britain, pp. 196 - 212
2011
Neilson HL, 2010, 'A Companion to Twentieth Century United States Fiction', in Seed D (ed.), Gore Vidal, edn. First, Wiley - Blackwell, Chichester, UK, pp. 403 - 410
2010
Neilson HL, 2000, 'Postcolonial Gothic: Lois-Ann Yamanaka`s Hawai`I', in Interactions: Essays on the Literature and Culture of the Asia-Pacific Region, edn. Original, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, WA, pp. 86 - 96
2000
Neilson HL, 1999, 'The Post-Colonial Child in the Fiction of K.S. Maniam and Lois-Ann Yamanaka', in Impossible Selves: Cultural Readings of Identity, edn. Original, Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne, pp. 93 - 102
1999
Neilson HL, 1995, ''Andre Brink: _A Dry White Season_'', in 2/3 Unit Related English, Pascal Press, Sydney, pp. 158 - 165
1995
Neilson HL, 1992, ''The Fiction of History in Gore Vidal's _Messiah_'.', in Gore Vidal: Writer Against the Grain, Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 106 - 119
1992
Neilson HL, 1983, ''How do you account for Spenser's departure froma conventional trimph at the ending of Book 1 of _The Faerie Queene_?'', in Literature in Context: Research and Writing Essays in English, Shillington House, Melbourne, pp. 38 - 46
1983
Conference Papers
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Neilson HL, 2012, 'The Great Men of Jay Parini', in The Great Men of Jay Parini, ANZASA, University of Queensland, presented at ANZASA, University of Queensland, 03 July 2012 - 06 July 2012
2012
Neilson HL, 2008, 'Teaching American Studies: Roundtable on Australian Attitudes towards the United States and the American Studies Classroom', in Australasian Journal of American Studies, Australian and New Zealand American Studies Association, Canberra Australia, presented at Australian and New Zealand American Studies Association, Sydney, Australia, 04 July 2008 - 07 July 2008
2008
Conference Presentations
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Neilson H, 2022, ''"No Stranger to Fiery Waters": Gore Vidal and the Matter of Alcohol'', presented at AULLA Conference, Darwin, 12 June 2022 - 16 June 2016
2022
Neilson H, 2022, ''Some Sort of Afterlife: Gore Vidal in the Poetry of Jennifer Maiden'', presented at 'Out of the ordinary': Poetry Conference, University of Canberra, 05 December 2022 - 07 December 2022
2022
Neilson HL, 2015, 'The Networks of The Lone Ranger', presented at Literary Conventions, University of Wollongong, 07 July 2015 - 11 July 2015
2015
Neilson HL, 2015, 'Against Revision: Looking back at Gore Vidal's The City and the Pillar', presented at ANZASA, Monash University, Melbourne, 30 June 2015 - 02 July 2015
2015
Neilson HL, 2014, ''"Go back to where you belong, man!": Teaching Alexie's _Indian Killer_'', presented at ANZASA, Dunedin, NZ, 11 February 2014 - 13 February 2014
2014
Creative Written Works
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Neilson HL, 2004, Conquering Courtesan`s Dangerous Liaisons, Canberra times, Canberra Times
2004
Neilson HL, 2004, A Tribute to Women in Time of War, Canberra times, Canberra Times
2004
Neilson HL, 2004, Good Intentions, Australian Book Review
2004
Neilson HL, 2003, The Albertine Motif, Australian Book Review
2003
Neilson HL, 2003, Some Day Might be Too Far Away, Canberra times, Canberra Times
2003
Neilson HL, 2002, Preaching to the Converted?, Australian Book Review
2002
Neilson HL, 2002, The General`s Right Leg, Australian Book Review
2002
Neilson HL, 2002, Letter from Copenhagen, Australian Book Review
2002
Neilson HL, 2002, A New Perspective on the Wives of Henry VIII, Canberra times, Canberra Times
2002
Neilson HL, 2002, All in the Ginsberg Family, Canberra times, Canberra Times
2002
Neilson HL, 2002, First Novel is a Skilfully Crafted Blend of History, Fiction, Canberra times, Canberra Times
2002
Neilson HL, 2002, Untitled Book Review, Australasian Journal of American Studies, Australian and New Zealand American Studies Association
2002
Neilson HL, 1999, Baggage, Panorama, 18 December
1999
Journal articles
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Neilson H, 2020, 'Other Faces: Racial Representations and Revisionist History', Australasian Journal of American Studies (AJAS), vol. 39, pp. 139 - 148
2020
Neilson HL, 2013, 'Review of Paul Giles, The Global Remapping of American Literature', Australasian Journal of American Studies, vol. 32, pp. 120 - 123
2013
Neilson HL, 2012, 'Review of Emory Elliott, National Dreams and Rude Awakenings: Essays on American Literature, frm the Puritans to the Postmodern', Australasian Journal of American Studies, vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 76 - 79
2012
Neilson HL, 2012, 'Myra in Middle-Age: The Creatrix in her contexts', Journal of American Studies of Turkey, pp. 39 - 66
2012
Neilson HL, 2012, 'Teaching African American Literature and Film at the Australian Defence Force Academy', Australasian Journal of American Studies, vol. 31, pp. 53 - 75
2012
Neilson HL, 2011, 'Review of Grant N. Havers' Lincoln and the Politics of Christian Love', The European Legacy, vol. 16, pp. 561 - 562
2011
Neilson HL, 2009, 'Intertextual Lincoln', Australasian Journal of American Studies, vol. 28, No. 2, December 2009, pp. 72 - 78
2009
Neilson HL, 2008, 'A Theatre of Politics: History`s Actors in Gore Vidal`s Empire', Australasian Journal of American Studies, vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 73 - 92
2008
Neilson HL, 2008, 'Review of Jay Parini (ed) Gore Vidal, Selected Essays', The Canberra Times-Panorama, pp. 17 - 17
2008
Neilson HL, 2007, 'Review of Stephen Wright`s `The Amalgamation Polka`', Canberra Times (Panorama section), vol. 24 Feb, pp. 12 - 12
2007
Neilson HL, 2007, 'Review of Norman Mailer`s `The Castle in the Forest`', Canberra Times (Panorama section), vol. 31 March, pp. 13 - 13
2007
Neilson HL, 2005, 'Contexts of Change', Australian Book Review, vol. 276, pp. 56 - 56
2005
Neilson HL, 2004, 'In Epic Times: Gore Vidal`s Creation Reconsidered', Australasian Journal of American Studies, vol. 23, pp. 21 - 33
2004
Headon DJ; Neilson HL, 2000, 'Editorship of Special Issue', Australasian Journal of American Studies, vol. 19
2000
Neilson HL, 2000, 'Review of Fred Kaplan, Gore Vidal: A Biography', Panorama, vol. 18 March, pp. 21 - 21
2000
Neilson HL, 1999, 'Review of `A Sea Change: Australian Writing and Photography`', Westerly, pp. 127 - 130
1999
Neilson HL, 1999, 'Review of `Seasons of her Life: A Biography of Madeleine Albright` by Ann Blackman', Panorama, vol. 23 January, pp. 22 - 22
1999
Neilson HL, 1999, 'Review of `Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human` by Harold Bloom', Panorama, pp. 24 - 24
1999
Neilson HL, 1998, 'Big Words: Issues in American Self-Representation', Australasian Journal of American Studies, vol. 17, pp. 3 - 21
1998
Neilson HL, 1998, 'Indigenous Women Writing in Australia and North America', Australian Women's Book Review, vol. 10, pp. 31 - 33
1998
Neilson HL, 1998, 'Trials and Triumphs of the Performing Woman', Southerly, pp. 262 - 266
1998
Neilson HL, 1997, 'Jack`s Ghost: Reappearances of John F. Kennedy in the work of Gore Vidal and Norman Mailer', American Studies International, pp. 23 - 41
1997
Neilson HL, 1996, 'A reflection on the `Culture Wars`: Hrold Bloom, Gore Vidal and the Resistance of the Philistines', Sydney Studies in English, pp. 120 - 135
1996
Neilson HL, 1996, 'Harold Bloom approaches the millenium', Australasian Journal of American Studies, vol. 15, pp. 45 - 55
1996
Neilson HL, 1995, '`Live from Golgotha`: Gore Vidal`s second `fifth gospel`', LINQ, pp. 79 - 91
1995
Other
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Giles P; Goodman D (ed.), 2017, Review of Margaret A. Oppenheimer, The Remarkable Rise of Eliza Jumel
2017
Goodman D; Giles P (ed.), 2016, Review of Michael Lackey (ed.), Conversations with Jay Parini, Sydney
2016
Taveira R; Nyerges A (ed.), 2016, Review of Barbara Ryan and Milette Shamir (eds.) Bigger Than Ben-Hur: The Book, Its Adaptations, and Their Audiences, Australian and New Zealand American Studies Association, Sydney
2016
Neilson HL, 2014, Round Table: Pacific Triangles and Australasian American Studies
2014
Neilson HL, 2007, Review of Florence Noiville`s `Isaac B. Singer: A Life` (Trans. Catherine Temerson), The Canberra Times
2007
Neilson HL, 2007, Book Review of Jon Clich `Finn`, Canberra Times
2007
Neilson HL, 2006, Review of Dennis Altman`s Gore Vidal`s America
2006
Neilson HL, 2006, Introduction to `Forum: regarding Gore Vidal`, Australian and New Zealand American Studies Association
2006
Neilson HL, 2006, Review of Marcie Grank`s `How to be an Intellectual in the Age of Television: the Lessons of Gore Vidal, Australian and New Zealand American Studies Association
2006
Harris S (ed.), 2005, Preface, Edwin Mellen Press, NY
2005
Neilson HL, 2000, Review of Fred Kaplan ed., The Essential Gore Vidal
2000
Neilson HL, 1997, Review of Women in the Trees, ed. Susan Koppelman, Australian and New Zealand American Studies Association
1997
Neilson HL, 1997, Review of Marion Halligan, Collected Stories, Cent Studies Australian Lit
1997
Organisational units
lensSchool of Humanities and Social Sciences
Sub Theme
lensLiterature & Media