Thesis Title: Archaeology of the Moment: An Exploration of Transformative Instances in the Writing of Poetry

Jo is a PhD student in the School of Arts and Humanities. The working project title for Jo's PhD research is Archaeology of the Moment: An Exploration of Transformative Instances in the Writing of Poetry.

Jo intends  to explore the ways in which contemporary poetry, including my own, seeks to capture the 'magnitude of the moment'. Jo is producing a collection and a critical thesis with a bridging chapter to my poems. Currently, Jo is researching the personal and universal in contemporary poetry; different types of epiphany; and how poets might use craft to transcend the purely personal and create 'escape velocity'. Part of Jo's project involves examining poets' archives and interviewing poets about their poetic process.

This Project is funded by AHRC / Midlands3cities.

Director of Studies

Dr Rory Waterman

Publications

Recent poems of Jo's have appeared in The Interpreter's House, New Walk, and Furies: A Poetry Anthology of Women Warriors (For Books' Sake, 2014).

Review of Kathryn Simmonds, The Visitations, in New Walk 9 (2014).