Mallory Hellman
Mallory-Hellman
Iowa City (52240) United States (Iowa)
Professional Status
Employed
Available
About Me
Mallory Hellman (she/her) is a writer, educator, and advocate for youth creativity. Since 2015, she has served as the Director of the Iowa Youth Writing Project, where she leads programs that bring free, high-quality writing opportunities to young people across Iowa. Mallory graduated from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop (MFA in Fiction) and Harvard University (BA in English and American Literature) and has taught creative writing at the University of Iowa, the Duke University Talent Identification Program, and in schools, shelters, and community centers throughout the Midwest. Her nonfiction has appeared in publications such as Tuesday Magazine and Forbes. In recognition of her leadership and community engagement, she received the Bravo Award from the Coralville Chamber of Commerce in 2015. In 2024, she co-founded the Experiential Education Collective, an organization devoted to promoting student-centered learning and hands-on creativity in schools and other educational spaces.
Director
Iowa Youth Writing Project
Since 2015
- Mallory became Director of the IYWP in 2015. Under her leadership, the organization has grown from a 20-volunteer group working in four local schools to a team of over 150 University of Iowa-based volunteers delivering programs that reach more than 20 schools across the state each year. In 2025, the IYWP’s Middle School Writing Conference welcomed more than 300 students from across Iowa, providing free, high-quality creative writing opportunities for young writers. In recognition of her work in community education and leadership, Mallory received the Bravo Award from the Coralville Chamber of Commerce.
Co-Founder
Experiential Education Collective
Since 2024
- In 2024, Mallory joined a team of local art and science educators to form the Experiential Education Collective, an organization devoted to promoting student-centered and hands-on creativity in schools and other educational spaces. Rooted in the belief that learning should be a lived experience, the Collective encourages students to learn by doing. The group will host its first educators’ summit for Iowa classroom teachers in August 2025.
Mallory studied English and American Literature at Harvard, where she focused on creative writing and quickly became active in both the literary and civic communities
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English Literature
Expert
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American Literature
Expert
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Fiction
Expert
- Mallory sits on the board of Agudas Achim Congregation in Coralville, where she teaches Sunday school and chairs the tikkun olam (“repairing the world”) committee. Her work with young Jewish students during the war on Gaza inspired “Coexistences,” her chapter in Exploring Anne Frank and Difficult Life Stories (Routledge, 2024), which reflects on how education can help navigate trauma and identity.
