Freelance Writer, Editor, & Content Manager

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Freelance Writing and Editing Services

Your Neighborhood Copy Editor

for Business & Creative Content

I am an editorial professional with 30 years of experience developing content and publications for nonprofit organizations. I’m also a published poet, fiction writer, and essayist who loves to help other creative writers reach their full potential.

  1. Copyediting (light, standard, or substantive)
  2. Writing (human interest/success stories, technical or annual reports, blogs, web content)
  3. Publication production (management, planning, consultations)

SEE MY PORTFOLIO HERE

  • Directed production of 100+ publications annually for JSI’s global health initiatives such as USAID Advancing Nutrition and the SPRING Project, elevating content quality and production efficiency.
  • Established editorial standards and streamlined content operations across 300+ international and domestic programs funded by agencies and organizations such as USAID, The Gates Foundation, the U.N., and the World Bank.
  • Regularly strengthened stakeholder engagement through targeted knowledge-sharing efforts, such as a newsletter reaching over 20,000 practitioners, policymakers, and educators.

My own publications include:

hdavis67@gmail.com

Testimonials

“I first worked with Heather when she was the Editorial Director of a complex, multi-country nutrition project. I was so impressed with the content and publications management systems and tools she had created and the resulting publications. I had the opportunity to work more closely with Heather when she brought that strategic thinking to the organization’s communications team to help refine and lead our editorial processes. I’ve learned a lot from her technical writing and editing expertise as well as her ability to bring people and teams together.” —Shaina Bauman, Senior Communications Advisor, JSI

Headshot of Heather Davis--smiling white woman with dark blonde hair to shoulders wearing black shirt in front of light green background.

Two Poems on Lancaster City Buses

Thanks to Word Hive and the City of Lancaster for displaying two of my poems on local buses in 2024. Art in public places helps us slow down and feel, which is critical to cultivating our humanity in a turbulent world. I hope readers of all the poems in this program felt a measure of connection and hope as they took in the words of local poets. Read this article about the program in Lancaster Online.

We Could Have Stood for Days

where waves kissed sand, your
small hand in mine, the curled water
crashing, the sun brash, gulls lithe
as brush strokes in the air, our bodies
loose and light, our bodies magic, beckoned
by the line between ocean and sky.

–Heather L. Davis

*****

May This Day Be

the Susquehanna, gliding soft over mossy rocks
to burble jazzy tunes. May it play
with sun and shadow, sparkling everywhere,
then twist and turn, greening the landscape,
making new life, its current unstoppable, hitting
all the right notes.

–Heather L. Davis

Spare No Detail: Three Poems about Gaza

Thanks so much to Vox Populi for publishing three poems I wrote about the ongoing genocide in Gaza. No words can save the thousands of innocent people who have been murdered in Gaza or stop a regime bent on total destruction and slaughter, but speaking up matters. We must all speak and act to stop atrocities our government insists on supporting.

Mother Countries Lancaster Launch

Poets Le Hinton, Andy Fogle, Heather L. Davis, Jose Padua, and Brian Gilmore at The Candy Factory, Lancaster, PA

I was honored to host a poetry reading at The Candy Factory on April 12, 2024 in Lancaster, PA. Many thanks to Andy Fogle, Brian Gilmore, Le Hinton, and Jose Padua plus our 11 open mic readers. As always, the wonderful Candy Factory supported the arts community by allowing us to use their beautiful space. Check out Andy’s new book of poems, Mother Countries, here. Brian’s book Come See about Me, Marvin can be purchased here. Le Hinton’s work can be found here. See Jose Padua’s A Short History of Monsters here.

The Candy Factory Hosts Delaware Poets

Many thanks to everyone who came out to the reading at The Candy Factory in Lancaster, PA on May 5. It was an amazing gathering. Hope we can do it again soon. Thanks to The Candy Factory for hosting and to Dana Kinsey, Ruth O’Gara, and Jose Padua for reading and for all their help. Here are the evenings readers. Thanks to Linda Adams Blaskey and Jane Miller for the beautiful poems.

Thank You, Poetry in Transit Luzerne County, PA

Hope folks riding buses in Wilkes-Barre, PA enjoy my little poem about Intention. Thanks to Jennifer Judge and the entire staff who make Poetry in Transit possible. Many beautiful poems will greet bus riders this fall.

What Does Your House Mean to You?

My poem “Houses” highlights a certain spouse’s obsession with finding houses that dream. Thanks to the ASP Bulletin for publishing it.

A Poem about the Edges of Things

Thanks to the Quartet Journal for publishing a poem about leaving and edges and the gifts children give you without even trying. “The Pale Pink Ceramic Mug for Instance” appeared in the Summer 2022 issue.

Two Poems Published in Written in Arlington

Thanks to Katherine E. Young for choosing my poems “Green Card” and “Folk Art” for the anthology, Written in Arlington, Poems of Arlington, Virginia. Although I live in D.C., I have worked for 20 years in Arlington–first in Rosslyn and now in Crystal City. This is a rich anthology on a myriad of topics, but all tied in some way to this diverse and unique area. I was also able to read my poem “Folk Art” at an online event hosted by the Arlington Public Library series, “From Diane’s Livingroom.” We had a great discussion about poetry and Arlington. See the YouTube Video of Arlington Public Library Poetry Reading: Live From Diane’s Living Room! Ep. 9: Written in Arlington with Poet Katherine E. Young and Friends, December 18, 2020.

Three Poems Published in Marsh Hawk Press Review

These poems have been cooking for a long time and finally found their true shape and audience in the Marsh Hawk Press Review, Spring 2021, edited by the incomparable Eileen R. Tabios. The eco-poem, “Porch Sitting,” about the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains haunted me for a long time. Having lived in the Shenandoah Valley for 10 years, I can still hear those mountains.