Heart Lessons for Creative Scholars: A Review of Patricia Leavy’s The Artist Academic

Authors

Alexandra C. H. Nowakowski, Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, Florida, USAFollow

Abstract

With The Artist Academic, Dr. Patricia Leavy offers creative scholars an actionable primer on listening to our hearts. It provides guidance on balancing critical reasoning and gut intuition with raw candor—and thus exceptional credibility. Leavy offers readers pearl after pearl from her own experiences in writing and publishing, bravely laying her own heart bare to impart the lessons in its scars. She writes with fierce humility, something I have come to associate with this author above all others, in coaching creative scholars on the building blocks of wise decisions at the intersection of analysis and instinct. After reflecting thoughtfully on key milestones and turning points in her personal career journey, Leavy invites us to envision our own horizons as creative scholars in similar spirit through writing exercises and supplemental readings. Recommended with boundless enthusiasm; I consider The Artist Academic essential reading for scholars whose career paths involve creative work and vice versa.

Keywords

career development, arts-based research, public scholarship, social fiction, feminism, creative process, writing, publishing, self-advocacy

Author Bio(s)

Dr. Alexandra "Xan" Nowakowski is an Associate Professor in the Geriatrics and Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine departments at Florida State University College of Medicine. They are a medical sociologist and public health program evaluator focused on aging with chronic disease and related social justice issues. Since 2024 they have proudly served as a Senior Editor for TQR after several years on the Editorial Board in general member and article editor roles. Please direct correspondence to xnowakowski@fsu.edu.

Publication Date

1-19-2026

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2026.8773

Recommended APA Citation

Nowakowski, A. X. C. H. (2026). Heart lessons for creative scholars: A review of Patricia Leavy’s The artist academic. The Qualitative Report, 31(1), 4975-4979. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2026.8773

ORCID ID

0000-0002-9072-2482