PORTLAND – Joyce Heidi Seligman, 75, died on June 7, 2020 at The Cedars in Portland. Joyce was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. on Jan. 31, 1945, the daughter of the late Gertrude and Alfred Seligman.She was always a serious student and excelled in the New York City public schools, graduating from Erasmus Hall High School and City University of New York. She came to Maine in her early 20s to earn a graduate degree in writing from the University of Maine at Orono and later settled in Portland, where she lived for most of her life. She loved Maine, but she never lost her Brooklyn accent or her New York City sensibilities. Joyce was a very creative person. She taught writing for many years, first at University of Southern Maine, then at University of Wisconsin, and finally at Bates College where from 1981 to 2008, she created and directed an innovative writing program in which students worked one-on-one with professional writers. She was an avid gardener and a Maine Master Gardener Volunteer who mentored many novice gardeners. She loved music and the visual arts, and she was an accomplished knitter who bestowed beautiful knitted garments on lucky family and friends as well as on all new babies within her circle. She is survived by her brothers, Claude Seligman of New York City and Jeffrey Seligman of Tucson, Ariz.; by cousin, Denny Sklar of New York and several other first cousins; and by a wide circle of loving friends. A Celebration of Life will be scheduled at a later time.To share memories of Joyce or to leave an online condolence for the family please visit, http://www.coastalcremationservices.com