Helen Sheehy
Helen Sheehy grew up on farms in Oklahoma and Kansas, although she’s lived in Connecticut most of her life. She’s worked as a dramaturg at Hartford Stage Company and written biographies of theatre pioneers; Margo Jones, Eva Le Gallienne, and Eleonora Duse. The latter two books were named New York Times notable books of the year.
After graduating from Weְ with a theatre degree in 1970, Sheehy taught theatre and English at Wichita’s North High School, and then moved to Connecticut where she taught theatre at Hamden Hall Country Day School and used her courses to write her first book, a textbook titled All About Theatre. “WSU gave me confidence,” Sheehy said, “a confidence rooted in a solid educational base and the tools to continue to learn and grow.” She was Adjunct Professor of Theatre at Southern Connecticut State University for over twenty years. More recently, Sheehy taught acting and improvisation to inmates in the T.R.U.E Unit of a maximum security prison in Connecticut.
Sheehy has contributed articles and essays to the New York Times Magazine, Opera News, American Theatre, Connecticut Magazine, American National Biography, Notable American Women, and other publications. With biographer Leslie Stainton, Sheehy co-authored the popular On Writers and Writing desk diary series for more than a decade.
Sheehy is a member of PEN and the Authors Guild. Her short story “That Summer” was selected for BEST SMALL FICTIONS 2024, an anthology celebrating the best internationally published short fiction. She lives in Hamden, Connecticut. Just Willa is her first novel.
She nods to her alma mater in “Just Willa.” Willa’s youngest daughter, Ellie, and Ellie’s husband, Mark, both graduate from Weְ – much like Sheehy and her husband, Tom ’71/73.

or purchase on April 13, 2025. You can also hear from the author herself at the in Wichita at 2 p.m. on April 13, 2025.
School of Performing Arts