Originally from Kentucky, Dr. Drewitz-Crockett has lived most of her adult life in East Tennessee. She earned a B.A. in English from Carson-Newman University, and both the M.A. and Ph.D. in English from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She came to Emory & Henry in 2012.

Specializing in Appalachian literature, Dr. Drewitz-Crockett teaches the English Department’s Appalachian literature course, directs the annual Emory & Henry Literary Festival, and editsThe Iron Mountain Review. Published under the auspices of the E&H English Department for nearly four decades, the IMR has become a critical academic resource in Appalachian literary studies. Dr. Drewitz-Crockett also teaches courses on writing, on American literature, on The Great Gatsby, on literature for children and young adults, and on literary theory.

Her publications include essays on Jeff Daniel Marion, Robert Morgan, and the representation of women in Appalachian literature. She is the academic advisor for a critical volume dedicated to the work of Lee Smith, and she is at work on a book entitled The Harrogate Group: Jesse Stuart, James Still, and Don West at Lincoln Memorial University to be published by the University of Tennessee Press. In 2016, Dr. Drewitz-Crockett received the H. Hiter Harris Rising Star Award from the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges for excellence in undergraduate teaching.