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Lesley McKenna

Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing

Lesley McKenna

I’ve been a writer ever since I can remember being able to put pen to paper. I think writing, live writing, and dream about writing. I was a student here on the original creative writing course in the year 2000, when we were still Luton University, and I gained a BA first class honours. I went on to study for my Masters by Research degree in 2005 , and attained a distinction for the resulting novel and accompanying thesis. This novel, Clutching Shadow, a story of incest, betrayal and death, was long listed for the Cinnamon Press novel prize in 2008.

Now I’m lucky enough to be a senior lecturer in Creative Writing. I’m passionate about teaching, and I’ve had the privilege of helping students to write since 2005. I teach at all levels, and run specialist units in Writing Horror and Dark Fantasy Fiction (Level 5); and Writing Fantasy Fiction (Level 6). I also supervise projects for final year students. I also supervise students at Masters level, and have successfully seen numerous students though the process.

As can be seen from my specialist subjects, I am interested in horror fiction, and fantasy fiction, and read avidly in both areas. Currently, I’m reading a lot of historical fiction too.

  • BA Honours First Class in Creative Writing (University of Luton)
  • Masters by Research in Creative Writing (University of Luton)
  • ‘The Sign’ in Nicole Mollet’s (artist)  A Graphic Novel for Luton. Funded by Arts Council England, Luton Arts Council, and University of Bedfordshire TestBeds programme.
  • 'Representations of Emasculation and Displaced Masculinity in A Game of Thrones.' (2016) British  Fantasy Society Journal.
  •  ‘Womb Distortion’ (2010) cover design for ‘Amaranthus Caudatus’. Kater Murr Press.                  
  •  ‘Womb Nebula’ (2010) asemic text-art sequence. Divergence Online Journal of
  •  Innovative and Experimental Writing and Text-art.                      
  • ‘Amaranthus caudatus (Love Lies Bleeding)’ (2010) Pamphlet. Kater Murr Press.
  • ‘Body/Scapes’ (2008). Prose poetry sequence. Great Works. Ed. Peter Philpott. Archived by British Library at www.greatworks.org.uk/poems/lmck1.html
  •  ‘The Snowbound Heart’ (2007)  Short story. Blackest Death Volume III. Black Death Books.
  • Dead Babies. Novella. Short listed for Cinnamon Press Novella Award. Summer 2008.
  • Clutching Shadow. Novel. Long listed for Cinnamon Press Novel Award. Summer 2008.

Reading: 2017. Revoluton Arts. Qalam Women's Writing Group. 'Crow Lass'

  • Horror Fiction.
  • Fantasy Fiction.
  • Women and the representation of the feminine in horror and fantasy fiction.
  • Conference. 2017. All About Cinderella: Retellings in a Cultural Imagination. University of Bedfordshire. ‘Prom Night: Cinderella Gets a Gun.
  • NAWE Conference. 2012. York. ‘Toward a Personal Poetics of Horror.’
  • NAWE Conference. 2010. Cheltenham. ‘Writing in Tongues: Working with Source Texts.’
  • Symposium. University of Bedfordshire.  2009. Determining Creative Practice. ‘Cutting it Up -   Intertextuality and the Collage Poem’ plus reading of ‘Amaranthus caudatus (Love Lies Bleeding)’.
  • Symposium. University of Bedfordshire. 2008. ‘Circularity, narrative and aesthetic translation.’  Reading of Body/scapes.

address

School of Culture & Communications
University of Bedfordshire
University Square
Luton, LU1 3JU
United Kingdom

 

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