Abi Curtis
Head of Programme: MA Literature Studies and MA Creative
Writing.
Abi was one of the first to gain a PhD in Creative and Critical
Writing from the University of Sussex, and went on to teach there
until 2010 when she joined YSJU. In 2004 she received an Eric
Gregory Award from the Society of Authors for poets under 30, and
her first collection, Unexpected Weather, was the winner
of Salt Publishing’s inaugural Crashaw Prize and was shortlisted
for the London Festival Fringe Poetry Award 2010. Her research
interests are Creative Writing, Poetry, Fiction, and
Psychoanalysis.
Poetry
The Glass Delusion, Salt Publishing, 2012 - link:
http://www.saltpublishing.com/books/smp/9781844718641.htm
Unexpected Weather, Salt Publishing,
2009 – link: http://www.saltpublishing.com/books/smp/9781844715657.htm
Humbug, Tall Lighthouse, 2004
Poetry included in a range of journals and
anthologies, including: Magma, South East Review, Aesthetica,
Poetry South, Resurgence, Succour and The Best American Poetry
Blog.
Critical and Conference Papers
‘Mushrooming: Resistance and Creativity in Sigmund Freud and
Emily Dickinson’ in Angelaki: The Journal of the
Theoretical Humanities Routledge, Vol. 17.1: 2012 -
link: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/routledge/0969725x.html
‘Squiddity: The Power of the Squid in Writing’, ‘First
Fictions’, University of Sussex, January 2012 - link:
http://myriadeditions.com/first-fictions-home
‘Re-thinking the Unconscious in Creative
Writing Pedagogy’, in New Writing: The International
Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative
Writing, Autumn 2009.
‘Inventions of Telepathy’ review article in
The Oxford Literary Review:
‘Telepathies’, December 2008.
‘An Impossible Apprenticeship’, on teaching
poetry, Poetry News, Summer 2006.
‘Poetry and Ventriloquism’, ‘Poetry and the
Voice,’ University of Chichester, June 2010.
‘The Joke as Critical and Creative Act’,
‘Critic as Artist,’ University of Lancaster, June 2009.
‘Mr Coombes and the Drop-Hole’, a fictional
dramatisation of the process of research, ‘The Story of Research’,
University of Sussex, June 2007 and ‘Great Writing’, University of
Bangor, July 2007.
‘Conversations with a Machine: Re-thinking the
relationship between Poetry and Critical Discourse’, ‘In the Line
of Contemporary Poetry’, Oxford, September 2006.
‘Indefinite Exteriors: Narrative Desire and
the Kiss’, ‘Incorporation and Literature’, University of Edinburgh,
July 2006.
‘Freud’s Compositional Space’, ‘Great
Writing’, University of Portsmouth, June 2005.
Readings and Projects
I have been involved in a number of
collaborative projects, including creating short films and
performances for Sussex University’s ‘Sounding the Site’
series.
I’ve read my work at the following venues and
festivals, Chiddingly, Stanza, The Troubadour, The Betsy Trotwood,
The Komedia, Slaughtered Lamb, Poetry Café and Bookroom Boutique.
I’ve also judged poetry competitions, including Kent SaveAs, Root
and Branch, and The New Writer.