I was a CHASE Doctoral Researcher in the Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies, University of Essex, between 2016-2018. Currently, I’m working as a Lecturer in Literature at Essex (fixed-term role). I’m also creative writing lead for WISE (Wellness Improvement Service) a social prescribing project being run in the South Wales Valleys, funded by the NHS and Arts Council Wales. The series of workshops I have designed under the umbrella title The House of Dreams and Memories aim to support NHS patients living with long-term health problems and chronic pain. The workshops’ theme is inspired by a book which was central to my PhD research: Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space.

My creative-critical research practice explores themes of grief, loss and the legacy of trauma. For my PhD, I created an interdisciplinary research methodology spanning the disciplines of literature, transitional justice, forensic science, and the visual arts. The creative component was a novel about the exhumation of mass graves in post-Franco Spain in the early 21st century. Since 2019, I’ve been publishing a series of articles drawing on my critical research in publications including Literature Interpretation Theory Journal and C21 Journal for 21st century Writings. Key themes in these articles are the figure of the storytelling-migrant and the role of artmaking in writing narratives of exile and diaspora.

I think what I’m most proud of is keeping my research practice going in a period of huge upheaval in Higher Education. My first role post-PhD was as fixed-term teacher. Within a month of completing that contract the pandemic struck. Between 2020-2021, I was an Honorary Research Fellow at Birkbeck and was able to work on my postdoctoral research projects under the mentorship of Dr Agnes Woolley. My contracts in HE since 2021 have been many and varied but they’ve helped me grow as a teacher, mentor and writer. I joined the careers service team at Essex in a maternity cover role, and this led to my turning career mentor. I currently support students interested in finding work in the creative industries – the sector I worked in before returning to study. I was also a member of the Breaking Barriers Working Party, the University of Essex’s social mobility programme. These experiences have helped shape my teaching practice at Essex which is currently piloting Extracted Employability initiatives in partnership with colleagues in the Career Services team.

The workshops I’m running for the NHS have inspired me to develop a new research project bringing together my interests in creative writing, creative health and biodiversity conservation. A highlight of my CHASE scholarship was the research trip I organised to Madrid to carry out archival research and site visits. I’m taking a lot of what I learnt into this new project – including writing grant applications for specific development activities. I also recommend going to the CHASE conferences and talking to people who don’t do what you do – in my experience, the best research is sparked by curiosity in what lies outside your field.

What’s coming up next? I’m planning a community writing project in the town where I live, bringing together the social prescribing service being run by my GP, a group of local biodiversity conservationists and ecologists and the university’s new Health, Wellbeing and Care Hub. I’ve started writing a new novel, and recent short fiction has been published in the 2023 Bath Short Story Award Anthology and in literary journals such as The Lonely Crowd.

My top tip for current CHASE researchers is this: take advantage of all the training and professional development opportunities available. Flexibility and creativity will be crucial to navigating a volatile and competitive workplace (in or out of HE). The last academic job I went for had over 200 applicants. So, what can you do to create opportunities for yourself – CHASE offers some great skills building programmes, so start there.