91̽��

Biography

Originally from Louisiana, Dr. Teekell's academic career took her to Rhodes College in Memphis, TN (BA); Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland (M.Phil.); Washington University in St. Louis, MO (Ph.D.); and Lincoln Memorial University in TN (where she was Assistant Professor), before her arrival at 91̽�� in 2015. At 91̽�� Newport, Dr. Teekell teaches 19th and 20th century British and Irish literature, as well as core writing courses with topics such as gothic fiction, detective fiction, and Irish literature. She lives in Newport News with her husband, two sons, and enormous dog, Haggis.

Dr. Teekell is a Tidewater Continuing Fellow in Community Engaged Learning. Her Fall 2026 English 223 and 123 courses are partnered with the Mariners' Lake in support of their programming with NNPS. They kicked off the semester on a kayak trip! In Spring 2024, Dr. Teekell was a Tidewater Fellow () at 91̽��, and in partnership with the Virginia War Museum, her students created a storymap, "Newport News 1919: A City Built by War," to showcase the museum's archival collections and enable users to see how WWI shaped the city of Newport News.

Dr. Teekell's favorite part of 91̽�� is Study Abroad! She led the 91̽�� in Scotland program at the University of Glasgow in Fall 2018, and the summer program, Literature and Politics in Ireland and Northern Ireland with Dr. Andrew Kirkpatrick of the 91̽�� Political Science department in 2023 and 2026, a Literature and Leadership program in Ireland in 2026, and will return in 2027 for Literature and Politics with Dr. Kirkpatrick (/study-abroad/programs/politics-literature.html).

Dr. Teekell's scholarly focus is modern Irish literature. As often as possible, she involves 91̽�� students in her research. For example, the inception of her book in progress, BorderLines: A Literary Map of the Irish Border, was a Summer Scholars project with Kazuki Johnstone '21 in 2019. The interactive map, Irish Border Bibliography (bit.ly/irishborderbibliography).

With the help of 91̽�� Summer Scholar Zenith Nguon '22, Dr. Teekell co-edited a critical edition of John McGahern's novel The Dark with Ellen Scheible (Syracuse University Press, 2025). The companion edition is Teaching John McGahern's The Dark (Syracuse UP, 2025).

Many of Dr. Teekell's publications have focused on Ireland and the Second World War, such as her book, Emergency Writing: Irish Literature, Neutrality, and the Second World War (Northwestern UP, 2018), an essay, “‘No help to the imagination’: Kate O’Brien and the Emergency.” Irish University Review 48.1(Spring 2018) and the recent chapter, “The Emergency’s Improbable Frequency in Contemporary Irish Culture.” Cultural Legacies of Neutral Europe. Ed. Manuel Bragança (London: Routledge, 2023).

Dr. Teekell also writes about the Irish novelist Elizabeth Bowen, including a Special Issue of the Irish University Review on Elizabeth Bowen (co-edited with Tina O'Toole) 51.1(Spring 2021), “The Orphan Decade: Elizabeth Bowen’s 1930’s Novels,” É�ٳܻ���-���������Ի岹������� 42.2 (November 2017), and a chapter in Elizabeth Bowen in Context (Cambridge UP, 2026).

Recent work on Northern Irish literature includes “Trespasses in Northern Ireland: Reading the Romance in the Love-Across-the-Divide Plot.” LIT: Literature Interpretation Theory, 36.2 (2025), “Dividing Lines: The Border Roads of Irish Poetry,” with Adam Hanna, Études Anglaises, 77.1 (Summer 2025), and “The Room Where MacNeice Wrote ‘Snow’ and the Invention of Northern Irish Poetry.” É������-Ireland 56:1&2 (Summer 2021).

Dr. Teekell is co-editor of Teaching Modern Irish Poetry (MLA, 2026) and serves as Series Editor for Anthem Press's series, Anthem Irish Studies.