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Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, University of Stirling

Novelist and Creative Writing Lecturer. First novel, So It Is (2012), shortlisted for SMIT Scottish Book of the Year 2013 and described in The Observer as a book which 'offers a fresh perspective on the Troubles'. Second novel, The Busker, published on 1st May 2014. Third novel, Man at Sea, forthcoming from Fly on the Wall Press.

Born in Orkney and brought up in Glasgow, I studied for a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Creative Writing at Queen's University, Belfast; MLitt in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow; and a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Surrey.

Research Interests: contemporary fiction, particularly prose that seeks to experiment with form and novels that explore the intersection between the personal and the political. So It Is investigates the Troubles in Northern Ireland and, in particular, the role of women in the violence. The Busker is concerned with the Occupy movement and the functioning of 'protest' in contemporary British politics.

Critical work has included articles on Creative Writing pedagogy, poststructuralist readings of the writing process, investigation of the link between form and content in Narrative Theory and exploration of the role of the Creative Writing PhD in modern academia.

Experience

  • –present
    Lecturer in Creative Writing, University of Stirling

Education

  • 2012 
    University of Surrey, PhD/Creative Writing