Updated April 2023
I am delighted to say that we have finally submitted the final proofs of the Edinburgh Companion to Modernism in Contemporary Theatre. It has been a lot of work and covid/life/the world has caused so many ups and downs. But we are so proud of the eventual collection and so grateful to our patient contributors. The collection should hit the shelves in June/July. We are excited to see the journal articles from the Health and Wellbeing in Professional Wrestling project (funded by the British Academy) emerging. The first appeared a few months back. Last April I gave an invited paper as part of a symposium on Proxies (run by Dylan Mulvin of LSE and Annette Hill of Lund University). After having so much fun with bodybuilding last year, Conor Heffernan and I are collaborating on a paper thinking about proxies in wrestling and how a study of wrestling might make us think about a range of contemporary proxies in different ways.
I'm delighted to be working with Conor and Broderick Chow on a new project on the history of Strongman. We have some wonderful partners and long to receive the money so we can speak to Strongmen and Women about their experiences (and maybe do a bit of stonelifting ourselves). The paper I delivered last year at the British Society for Sports History conference in 2011 is now an article for a special edition of Performance Research on blood and will be coming out soon, all being well. I am also co-leading the Loughborough participation in the Arts, Culture and Heritage theme for the new Civic Agreement between the University of Leicester, De Montfort University and Loughborough University. We had an amazing, inspiring launch a couple of months ago and I am really excited to discover new ways to work together to promote the arts in Leicestershire and Rutland. My collaboration with the APPG for professional wrestling continues: we have a Loughborough event in June and are currently writing a Code of Better Practice to support the wrestling community to improve health and wellbeing.
I am spending April/May/June finishing off lots of things: PhD supervision, external examining, some proofing, I have a couple of fun engagements during this period, including giving the 'fancy piece' for the superbly titled 'Critical Hunks and Babes' conference (April) and providing the response to a very exciting event on Huntly Carter in Oxford (June). And then...I will be on Fellowship for a semester. I am looking forward to finally focusing on some new projects and imagining the next steps. I'll also (all being well) be at the British Society for Sports History conference in Manchester (August) and at the Modernist Studies Association Conference in Brooklyn, our first US jaunt since Covid.
As I continue to work with our students, fulfil a number of leadership roles within our School, and just try to be a supportive colleague, I am inspired by Maya Angelou's advice: "Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud". May we be rainbows in people's clouds in 2023...
I am delighted to say that we have finally submitted the final proofs of the Edinburgh Companion to Modernism in Contemporary Theatre. It has been a lot of work and covid/life/the world has caused so many ups and downs. But we are so proud of the eventual collection and so grateful to our patient contributors. The collection should hit the shelves in June/July. We are excited to see the journal articles from the Health and Wellbeing in Professional Wrestling project (funded by the British Academy) emerging. The first appeared a few months back. Last April I gave an invited paper as part of a symposium on Proxies (run by Dylan Mulvin of LSE and Annette Hill of Lund University). After having so much fun with bodybuilding last year, Conor Heffernan and I are collaborating on a paper thinking about proxies in wrestling and how a study of wrestling might make us think about a range of contemporary proxies in different ways.
I'm delighted to be working with Conor and Broderick Chow on a new project on the history of Strongman. We have some wonderful partners and long to receive the money so we can speak to Strongmen and Women about their experiences (and maybe do a bit of stonelifting ourselves). The paper I delivered last year at the British Society for Sports History conference in 2011 is now an article for a special edition of Performance Research on blood and will be coming out soon, all being well. I am also co-leading the Loughborough participation in the Arts, Culture and Heritage theme for the new Civic Agreement between the University of Leicester, De Montfort University and Loughborough University. We had an amazing, inspiring launch a couple of months ago and I am really excited to discover new ways to work together to promote the arts in Leicestershire and Rutland. My collaboration with the APPG for professional wrestling continues: we have a Loughborough event in June and are currently writing a Code of Better Practice to support the wrestling community to improve health and wellbeing.
I am spending April/May/June finishing off lots of things: PhD supervision, external examining, some proofing, I have a couple of fun engagements during this period, including giving the 'fancy piece' for the superbly titled 'Critical Hunks and Babes' conference (April) and providing the response to a very exciting event on Huntly Carter in Oxford (June). And then...I will be on Fellowship for a semester. I am looking forward to finally focusing on some new projects and imagining the next steps. I'll also (all being well) be at the British Society for Sports History conference in Manchester (August) and at the Modernist Studies Association Conference in Brooklyn, our first US jaunt since Covid.
As I continue to work with our students, fulfil a number of leadership roles within our School, and just try to be a supportive colleague, I am inspired by Maya Angelou's advice: "Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud". May we be rainbows in people's clouds in 2023...
