Posts

The Writing Hour - 25 October 2022

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Last one of these attached to Linda France's New Writing North climate residency and not sure what we'll get up to yet. My writing lately has been scraping at the edges of my DYCP Treasures project and planning for a guest seminar for my friend Jenn's MA module on language in TV and film taught from a linguistics perspective. Getting back in Metz after a long time away from film semiotics and it's giving me such a lift at a tough time. His final book Impersonal Enunciation was beautifully translated into English my Cormac Deane in 2016 and it's a breath of fresh air.  Linda is asking us to think about place. The places in my mind currently are my mum's room in the intermediate care home she's in while rehabilitating from surgery on a badly broken hip. If that's where I choose then we're staying with it for the session. Ok, let's document it.  Prompt 1: Describe this place. Write freely and loosely, but remember detail. There's a little nature...

Necessary Procrastination

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With my mum in hospital and the uncertainty around her care, and then all the running about that having a close relative in hospital involves, it has been difficult to find headspace for writing at all, and writing for my DYCP project specifically. Rather appropriately, I started vaguely reading Geoff Dyer’s Out of Sheer Rage: In the Shadow of D. H. Lawrence (Abacus, 1997) in which Dyer wants to write a book about D. H. Lawrence but finds himself doing anything but writing a book about D. H. Lawrence. This is my current experience with my Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable project. At least my ACE grant is about developing practice and doesn’t expect a big shiny outcome other than a report on the development of your practice. But I do really want a manuscript to come out of it. So I’m carving snatches of time between hospital runs to write something , even if it’s skirting the edges of what I really want and ought to be writing about. Plus it’s cathartic, getting stuff out ...

Journal 10 Oct 2022

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I wasn’t going to try to blog for a bit. The material I had scheduled has dried up and I haven’t prepared any more. I was feeling a bit of pressure with increasing deadlines in my paid work and the ramping up of my Arts Council England project to the writing practice phase when we were hit hard with Covid infections. I’m feeling angry that the deemed-on-our-behalf healthy and working population haven’t been offered an autumn booster when it was inevitable that all the nasty viruses would be rampant as soon as schools and universities were back in action. By the same measure I’m grateful I had 3 jabs in 2021, even if their efficacy has waned as I suspect my infection may have been severe enough to warrant hospitalisation had I had no protection at all. I’m recovering a tiny bit more every day, but progress is slow and I am significantly weakened.   On top of that my mum had an accident and needed emergency surgery on a fractured hip. I’ve been very anxious about such a scenario for ...

'You take its legs, and I'll take its... legs.'

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* Derry Girls season 3* The appearance of a Hollywood star with a particular set of skills (and still no match for Uncle Colm) in the season 3 premier of Derry Girls wasn't a surprise for me as it was with live viewers because it was trending on Twitter when I logged on to do podcast stuff (have I mentioned I make a podcast ?) early the next morning. Yes, in 2022 in the UK, the masses still don't consider that a load of us don't have or watch live broadcast television for a multitude of reasons and get caught up later, as is our wont well into the age of on-demand catch-up services.   Liam Neeson's turn as an RUC officer was quite the boon, and to see him bested by Uncle Colm's (Kevin McAleer) filibustering was nothing short of masterful, and the weans were acted off the screen all round by the older generations in this one. But the A-story's edgy hilarity served to mask the deep darkness of the B-story in which Granda Joe's (Ian McElhinney) taken-in-cat, Se...

Failed Cover Letter - Cruse Bereavement, Dec 2019

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Dear Recruitment Panel, Application for the post of Hub Administrator – Tyneside I was delighted to learn of this opportunity through my friend ___, and I enclose my CV with this letter for your consideration. Through previous work experience and qualifications, I am highly competent in using the full suite of Microsoft Office applications and their open source equivalents, particularly Word, Excel and PowerPoint, as well as Outlook. I have training in using content management systems for maintaining websites and am familiar with WordPress. I am quick to learn new systems and if I do not know or understand something, I will make a point of finding out. I work diligently and make the utmost effort to pay attention to detail, for which I have received praise from proofreading clients and publishers of my academic work. I manage my time and tasks by keeping my diary up to date, making prioritised lists and keeping a well-labelled archive of documents. I keep ahead so that I can be ...

Rejected Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship Proposal - Lancaster University, 2016

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Post-Agreement Cinema: The Northern Ireland Conflict in Contemporary British and Irish Screen Cultures Abstract Film and television production in Northern Ireland has experienced significant shifts since the Peace Agreement was signed in 1998. During this time, major changes in views of the Northern Ireland conflict in other parts of the British Isles have emerged. This project will analyse the landscape of contemporary film and television across the UK and Ireland with a particular focus on inter-regional productions that engage with the conflict’s legacy. As well as major publications and a vlog, outputs will include curating an exhibition of visual art relevant to the project and a series of film screenings with talks. Details of current and past research My research interests lie in contemporary film and visual culture focusing on conflict and post-conflict themes. I am drawn to convergences between cinema and visual art, particularly inv...

Rejected Podcast Producer Application - NAARCA, April 2022

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Experience producing podcasts I have been making Audiovisual Cultures with a consistent biweekly output for four years. It is an arts and culture podcast exploring different aspects across film, art and media with an emphasis on their significance in or impact on culture more broadly. The episode format is determined each time by the topic and who is involved and includes interviews with practitioners or researchers about their work, analysis of specific works or phenomena with a guest or co-host, scripted essays, panel discussions, and conference coverage. In the past couple of years I have mostly recorded remotely using Zoom, Zencastr or live streams and have connected with fascinating guests all over the world. AVC is regularly downloaded in at least 20 countries. Through making Audiovisual Cultures I have developed knowledge and skills in audio recording and editing, including extensive use of Digital Audio Workstations and editing software, and ways to achieve the best possible qu...

Rejected Cover Letter - Deputy Director, Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival, March 2022

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I was delighted to learn of the Deputy Director post as this is exactly the opportunity I am seeking to take a more active role in the arts and culture sector. I am interested in the Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival as I am drawn to areas of convergence between cinema and the visual arts. An experienced film academic, I have extensive knowledge of contemporary film and visual art as demonstrated in my peer-reviewed publications, contributions to arts magazines, making Audiovisual Cultures Podcast and holding degrees in the field. As a skilled administrator and networker with a passion for facilitating others’ development, I will excel in this post. My experience in a comparable role is shown in my directorship of Cosy Pea Pod, the creative company under which I produce Audiovisual Cultures , a film, arts and media podcast featuring analysis of cultural works and interviews with a wide range of practitioners, including artists, filmmakers and organisers of film festivals and symp...