Research group: Centre for Place Writing
Exploring the relationship between writing and place to examine major contemporary issues including the climate emergency, urban regeneration and mass migration.
About our research
About our research
We are a creative and critical research centre in the Department of English, established by a cluster of high-profile writers and academics working in the field of place writing.
We develop new research and promote the study of the genre, as well as running projects and events that provide a platform to discuss and showcase new thinking and writing on place. Research by our growing postgraduate community is key to our strategic vision.
Place writing is a popular literary genre across creative nonfiction, fiction and poetry, in which place is the primary subject. Locations explored within include natural and rural landscapes, cities, ‘edgeland’ places as well as sites of displacement and every type of place in between.
We aim to play a leading role in changing the current lack of diversity in this literary field through our public engagement activities, events, workshops, teaching and projects.
Our research themes
Our research themes
Creative nonfiction
The most popular genre in the field of place writing is creative nonfiction, writing that explores true stories told in compelling ways that show how ordinary events and place can be transformed through prose.
We teach a range of writing in this form, including memoir, literary journalism, nature and travel writing.
Selected projects
Contact information
Contact us
For general enquiries about our Centre for Place Writing, you can contact its lead researchers Dr David Cooper and Dr Rachel Lichtenstein.