Lately I haven’t written as much as I’d like to, but I’ve got a great excuse: work. I’ve just returned from a conference, am about to go to another, and am organizing a little symposium myself.

Last week I was at Assembling Identities in Glasgow, which was amazing. The F Word focused on feminist literature, which is a relatively narrow field. Identity, of course, is broad. You rarely get the chance to meet people who work on subjects ranging from music, food, history and geography to literature and visual art. It was also the first time I presented a poster, and while I liked the informality it was more difficult than I expected it to be. With a regular paper, people will at least gather to listen to you (or pretend to listen). Posters on the other hand are easy to ignore. However, I had some great discussions about my work nonetheless. It’s always great to see what other people are up to (apparently close reading is a trend nowadays). And Glasgow, I have to say, is lovely. See below.

This Friday, I’m on my way to Bangor (Gwynedd) to present a paper about literary visions of the future. This conference is more interdisciplinary than any other I’ve ever been to: there will be people working on robots, urban design, and international development. Exciting.

And then there’s the American Studies Annual Review Symposium, an opportunity for postgrad research students at the UEA School of American Studies to present their work. There will be panels on cultural discourse, complex agency and female voices. I am one of the organizers, and will be giving a paper entitled: “How Patrick Bateman Almost Drove Me Crazy – And How I Survived”. There will be drinks afterwards. That’s another tip by the way: academics love food and alcohol, so if you promise them that there will be drinks/food/both, they will show up. Guaranteed.

That’s it for now – stay tuned.