About

I’m Katie Van Heest, PhD, the editor behind Tweed Academic Editing. My ambition is simple: to advance scholarship. To that end, I make academic writing polished, presentable, and professional.

Scholarship matters . . . but much of it stagnates before it sees the light of day. I refine scholarly writing in order to optimize its value in the academy and broader culture.

My academic credentials allow me to think critically about your project, and I have the editing chops to smooth your style and scaffold your ideas. I obsess about grammar, mechanics, argument, formatting, and consistency so that you can focus on generating your scholarly contribution.

CREDENTIALS & EXPERIENCE

• PhD & MA in the study of religion, Claremont Graduate University
• Certificate in editing, University of Chicago (training through the advanced level, including developmental editing, acquisitions editing, and electronic methods)
• BA, cum laude, in gender studies & religious studies, Scripps College

• Adjunct Assistant Professor of English, Portland State University (teaching graduate- and undergraduate-level book editing)
• Associate Editor, Lexington/Fortress Academic book series Scripturalization: Discourse, Formation, and Power
• Elected Council Member, Text & Academic Authors Association
• Advisory Board Member, Institute for Signifying Scriptures, an independent research organization
• Critical Editor, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, illustrated by David Delamare
• Ongoing professional development—for example, with the University of Chicago, the Author-Editor Clinic, and Editcetera

• Visiting Lecturer in Religious Studies, Pomona College
• Teaching Fellow, Claremont Colleges Consortium
• Assistant to the Director, Institute of Signifying Scriptures, a research center for comparative religion
• Official Dissertation Reader, School of Religion, Claremont Graduate University

SCHOLARS, PUBLISHERS & SOCIETIES

In addition to my work with individual professors, independent scholars, and advanced students, I have edited for Fordham University Press, Indiana University Press, and the Society of Biblical Literature. I have also been the copyeditor for the journal Media Industries.

PRESS & APPEARANCES

• A 2020 profile in The Bulletin for the Study of Religion.
• At the 2019 annual meeting of the American Historical Association, presented on a panel of editors entitled “The Marathon of Academic Writing and Getting Out of Your Own Way.”
• In my webinar “Manuscript Review in the Humanities: Embrace Criticism and Stand Up For Your Ideas,” presented and recorded in October 2016 for the Text and Academic Authors Association, I explain the stages of critique and revision involved in bringing a scholarly book to press.
• The Portland chapter of the Northwest Independent Editors Guild invited me to speak on academic editing (spring 2016).
• I wrote a May 2014 post called “How to Write a Sophisticated, Dynamic Scholarly Argument” for the blog of the Text and Academic Authors Association.
• In September 2013, I presented a webinar with the Text and Academic Authors Association. More information, including download links, here: “Pushing Your Writing, Raising Your Profile.”
• UPPERCASE (“a magazine for the creative and curious”) profiled me, Tweed, and my lifelong fascination with text. More here.
• I was able to reflect in person upon the interdisciplinary mission of the Institute for Signifying Scriptures at its ten-year celebration in 2014.
• The Claremont Graduate University Pedant interviewed me for a May 2013 story about how academic writers can overcome inertia. Read the whole article here.
• In 2011, Copyediting interviewed me about scholarly editing. Read it here.
• The Scripps College alumnae magazine ran my opinion piece “Editing for Relevance,” which reveals something of my editorial disposition.
• For several years I had the absolute pleasure of being on the judging team for the Portland Regional Spelling Bee.

Read more about my clients and past projects here.