York St John University students get unparalleled insight into 1990s music scene

English Literature students from York St John University were visited by writer, broadcaster and journalist Anna Doble as part of their research studies into music and memory. 
 
Author of the shortlisted 2025 Penderyn Music Book Prize memoir, Connection is a Song: Coming Up and Coming Out Through the Music of the ‘90s, Anna spent time with the third year students, discussing her book, the contemporary cultural phenomenon of the music memoir and the way that music is used to construct memory.  
 
The students’ research module draws heavily on the work of York St John’s Music, Memory and Narrative Research Group, founded in 2018 to provide a unique look at the construction of social, cultural and life narratives from popular music. 
 
Anna’s book is a journey through the 1990s, starting in North Yorkshire, and charting the music and tracks that shaped her, leading her to running the digital news team at Radio 1 and to the BBC World Service, where she is currently digital editor. 

“I had such an interesting time chatting with the students about the music that most vividly connects them to key moments in their lives,” said Anna.  
 
“I was honoured to share excerpts from my book and glad to find that – despite some generational differences! – we all experience similarly intense memories when we hear a certain song: whether it’s the brown and orange curtains of our childhood living rooms, the blinking lights of Sheffield viewed from a car, or the way the moon shines through a bathroom window. I loved hearing everyone’s stories and ideas.” 

Dr Fraser Mann, Senior Lecturer in Literature at York St John University, said: “It was a wonderful opportunity for the students to chat with Anna. The insights into the writing process, and what this means for communicating experiences of music, were invaluable.  
 
“Perhaps what was most inspiring was seeing how the session helped students navigate their own relationship with music, memory and writing.”

Student Imogen Andrews, who spent time with Anna, said: “It was really engaging and insightful to hear about Anna's writing process. The relationship she identified between music and memory provided great context to how she created such sensory descriptions of her musical experience in the ‘90s throughout the book.”  

Anna will be returning to York on Monday 24 March to discuss Connection is a Song at the York Literature Festival, where she will be interviewed by Dr Mann. The festival is sponsored by York St John University. 
 
Find out more about our English Literature BA (Hons) course at York St John.  
 
 

Photograph: from left to right, students Rachel Bentley, Madz Warley, Erin Blaney and writer Anna Doble.