English
Department
English

The Rock Creek Review

ISSN 2689-7415

The Rock Creek Review is an undergraduate literary criticism journal edited, produced and published by students at Heidelberg University in partnership with the English Department. This journal will solicit literary research from schools around the world for an annual publication every Spring.

Latest Issue

Rock Creek Review Cover

May 2025 - Reading the Unreal

In 1817, English poet, writer, and philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge published his two-volume autobiography entitled Biographia Literaria. In his writing, Coleridge proposed the idea of the “suspension of disbelief”, in which an audience willingly suspends their ideals of what is real or not to fully understand and immerse themselves in a narrative or story. This year’s edition of The Rock Creek Review invites undergraduate essays analyzing and critiquing pieces of literature in which the reader must confront the unreal and suspend their disbelief.

Please watch for the Call For Papers for the 2026 volume in October 2025.

All submissions must:

  • Be in English
  • MLA Style
  • Less than 5,000 words
  • In a Google Doc or Word format

Questions? Email: rockcreek@heidelberg.edu\

Previous Issues

Contact

Questions about The Rock Creek Review? Please contact Barry Devine, Associate Professor of English, at bdevine@heidelberg.edu.

Contact Information

419-448-2184

Department Chair: 
Desirae Matherly

Hours

Mon - Fri: 8:00am - 5:00pm

Our Team

Sherri Bowerman
Administrative Assistant for the School of Education
Lavely-Shedenhelm Education Center 116
(419) 448-2125
Sherri B
Alexandra Chakov
Adjunct Instructor in English
Heidelberg University
Barry Devine
Associate Professor of English
Pfleiderer Hall 303
(419) 448-2047
Barry
Emily Isaacson
Director of the General Education Program|Director of Honors Program|Associate Professor English
Pfleiderer Hall 306
(419) 448-2184
Emily I
Desirae Matherly
Chair of English and World Languages| Associate Professor of English
Heidelberg University
(419) 448-2021
Desirae Matherly