Gregg A. Hecimovich, 2015–16; 2022–23 - National Humanities Center

Gregg A. Hecimovich (NHC Fellow, 2015–16; 2022–23)

Project Title, 2022–23

The Columbia Seven: The Life and Times of the Zealy Daguerreotypes

The Duke Endowment Fellowship, 2022–23

Professor of English, Furman University

Project Title, 2015–16

The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts: The True Story of The Bondwoman’s Narrative

Winthrop University


Gregg A. Hecimovich is professor of English at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. Hecimovich is the author of four books including the forthcoming The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts (Ecco/HarperCollins, 2023). He has received fellowships from the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University and the National Humanities Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Additionally, Hecimovich held a Public Scholar Fellowship appointment from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

He earned his BA at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he won the Louis D. Rubin Jr. Prize for most outstanding creative writer in his graduating class and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and cum laude in both English literature and creative writing. He earned his MA and PhD at Vanderbilt University where he was awarded the Graduate Student of the Year Award. He is the recipient of numerous teaching awards including the University of North Carolina Board of Governors Distinguished Professor for Teaching Award and the Max Ray Joyner Award for innovative teaching with technology.

Selected Publications

Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles: A Reader’s Guide

  • Hecimovich, Gregg A.. The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts: The True Story of The Bondwoman’s Narrative. Ecco/HarperCollins, 2023. Forthcoming.
  • Hecimovich, Gregg A.. “The Life and Times of Alfred, Delia, Drana, Fassena, Jack, Jem, and Renty.” In To Make Their Way in the World: The Peabody Museum’s Daguerreotypes, edited by Ilisa Barbash, Molly Rogers, and Deborah Willis, 71–117. New York: Peabody Museum Press, 2020.
  • Hecimovich, Gregg A.. Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles: A Reader’s Guide. London: Continuum, 2010.
  • Hecimovich, Gregg A.. Austen’s Emma: A Reader’s Guide. London: Continuum, 2009.
  • Hecimovich, Gregg A.. Puzzling the Reader: Riddles in Nineteenth-Century British Literature. Studies in Nineteenth-Century British Literature. New York: Peter Lang, 2008.

Fellowship Work Summary, 2015–16

Gregg A. Hecimovich made substantial progress on his book, The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts: The True Story of The Bondwoman’s Narrative, which is under contract with Ecco/HarperCollins. He also researched and drafted a chapter titled “The Life and Times of Alfred, Delia, Drana, Fassena, Jack, Jim, and Renty.” The chapter appeared in To Make Their Own Way in the World: The Enduring Legacy of the Zeal Daguerreotypes (New York: Aperture and Peabody Museum Press, 2020).

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