I am amazed and delighted and over the moon to say this little human here passed her viva on Wednesday! I am now apparently and officially Dr Jasmin Kirkbride.

Huge, huge thanks to my wonderful examiners Dr Rebecca Tillett from UEA and Dr Ben Smith from Exeter for reading my thesis, having such wonderful insights about my research, and generally giving me such a lovely viva experience.

Thanks too to my long-suffering and ever-supportive supervisors, Prof Andrew Cowan, Dr Nathan Ashman, and Dr Nonia Williams – you are absolute heroes, where would I be without you?!

Finally, thanks to all my friends and family who’ve supported me on this journey and put up with me being absolute stress ball for most of the last four years. I am so, so grateful for your patience and love.

Late yesterday afternoon, I handed in my PhD thesis! She is so chubby and I love her so much – and I am so happy and relieved that this stage in my PhD journey is complete. I am going to go and sleep now for the entire summer.

So hugely grateful to my supervisors Andrew Cowan and Nathan Ashman for holding this project for the past (nearly) four years – you are my heroes and UEA’s School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing has been an amazing home!

Now, nobody aggravate the Viva Gods until after September!!

Episode 2 of ASLE-UKI’s podcast ‘Green Listening: Discussions in Ecocriticism’ is here! University College Dublin hosts ‘Speculative Environments andProspective Anthropocenes’ featuring Sarah Bezan, Ailise Bulfin, Paula McGrath and Sam Solnick.

The Anthropocene – an epoch of unparalleled climate change, habitat destruction, and species loss – offers an opportunity to think about the role of storytelling, performance, and modes of representation that respond to environmental conditions. This project, ‘Prospective Anthropocenes and Speculative Environments’ explores creative modes of representation that engage with problems of nature trauma (Paula McGrath), species loss (Sarah Bezan), climate change (Ailise Bulfin), and energy futures (Sam Solnick).

Hosted at the University College Dublin, this project will take the format of a roundtable composed of two tête à têtes (or one on one conversations) between a total of four scholars from Ireland and the UK. Paula McGrath (UCD) and Sam Solnick (Liverpool) will conduct a one on one conversation about theatre, performance, and creative writing; Sarah Bezan (York) and Ailise Bulfin (UCD) will discuss species loss and climate change.

It will shock no one that I got overexcited giving a paper at the ASLE-UKI 2022 Conference this week!

What a fab time it was too! It was the first in-person conference of my PhD cause of COVID & it was everything I could wish for. I left feeling so integrated with a fab eco-literature research community & made more friends than I can count!

Some of my highlights include:
💚 Meeting the Committee F2F for the first time since joining as PGR/ECR Rep last year.
💚 Being on a panel with Jonathan Thornton (Liverpool University), Ingmar Haag (Stockholm University) and David Shackleton (Cardiff University). I explored chronological anonymity and hopeful longevity in dystopian climate fiction. Photographic evidence from Lucy Nield!
💚 Excursion to Tynemouth Abbey including paddling in the sea, which was deliciously cold and full of delightful seaweed and creatures. Thanks so much for organising Rosie Paice!
💚 And of course seemingly infinite inspiring ideas and insights. Jumping from my many notes: ‘the garden hums with the past… meet vegetal creatures on their own turf… art is an anti-entropic response…’ I could’ve listened to everyone for months!

HUGE thanks to the organising committee – particularly Brycchan Carey – for a magic few days, and to generous hosts Northumbria University. Already can’t wait for the 2023 conference at Liverpool University!

ASLE UKI is having their Biennial Conference this weekend and next week – here’s the details…

Saturday 3 September ONLINE & FREE
9am–6pm BST
This free, online conference day is open to all, just register in advance via Eventbrite! The cracking lineup includes panels on enviornmental and literary themes, a publishing workshop and much more! It’s been a pleasure co-organising this conference with fellow ASLE-UKI PGR and ECR Reps Sofie Schrey, Dr Vera Fibisan and Demi Wilton.

6–8 September Northumbria University
Northumbria University is hosting the 2022 Biennial Conference of ASLE UKI in person! There will be dinners, events, excursions and the usual incredible collection of papers and panels, including keynote speakers Elizabeth-Jane Burnett (Northumbria University) and Samantha Walton (Bath Spa University). I’m even giving a lil paper myself!

More info right here. Hope to see you there! x

I finally graduated from my MA in Creative Writing (2019) at he University of East Anglia (UEA). This graduation was delayed by a couple of years because of the pandemic and it meant a huge amount to be able to put on my robes and hat and celebrate with my family. For me, the ceremony was about the achievement of completing the MA but also persevering through tough times – academically and with the pandemic!

It’s a durability that’ll be needed in the coming years too, I think: the ceremony took place on that 40 degree day – thank goodness in the morning when it was still a little cool – but a sign that there are uncertain days ahead. This was a lovely reminder that even within strange times, we can still celebrate and find joy. Thanks to the Department of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing for being – and continuing to be – a fab academic home!

On 17th May at 10.30am BST online, I’m delighted to be part of a roundtable at Münster University called “Culture v. Commerce in the UK Publishing Industry”.

Fellow panellists Cat Mitchell, Dr Audrey Laing and myself will give three 15-minute presentations on the tensions within the UK publishing field that have arisen due to the conflict between commerce and culture in 21st-century book publishing. Our presentations will be followed by a discussion and Q&A, chaired by Chiara Bullen.

The event is FREE and open to all, register here. For more info, click here. Hope to see you there!

I’m delighted to be co-organising the ASLE-UKI Seminar on Environmental Displacement, part of the ASLE-UKI Seminar Series.

Date and Time: 17 March 2022, 5.30 pm
How to Take Part: Register FREE via Eventbrite

Speakers: Jos Smith (University of East Anglia), Charne Lavery (University of Pretoria and the Oceanic Humanities for the Global South project based at WISER, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa), Giovanni Bettini (Lancaster University)

What does displacement mean in our warming world? Placing three researchers from the environmental humanities in conversation with one another, this seminar will explore cross-disciplinary approaches to conceptualizing Anthropocenic mobility. How is both human and non-human movement understood in the context of climate change? How do literary and cultural artefacts anticipate displacement? What is the relationship between land and sea in underrepresented areas such as the Global South? Join us 17 March 2022, 17:30 GMT, for a free online ASLE-UKI seminar exploring ‘Environmental Displacement’.

Convenors: ASLE-UKI Postgraduate and Early-career Representatives (Demi Wilton, Jasmin Kirkbride, Vera Fibisan)

You can find more info about the ASLE seminar series here.

I’m delighted to have a haiku in ‘Temple: The British Haiku Society Anthology 2021’. This annual anthology is a wonderful read and it’s always such a treat to get through the post, what a pleasure to be published amongst so many fellow haiku enthusiasts. Many thanks to the whole British Haiku Society team and especially the editor Iliyana Stoyanova!