GLITS-e: A Journal of Criticism 5: 2015-2016
Article
GLITS-e is an electronic journal of literary and cultural criticism produced in the Department of English and Comparative Literature, Goldsmiths, University of London.
GLITS-e aspires to publish the best work presented by postgraduate students and other speakers at the Goldsmiths Literature Seminar (GLITS), and an account of postgraduate conferences organised by the Department. The purpose of the journal, as a forum for new voices, is to make a significant contribution to scholarly and theoretical debate. In serving this end more widely, GLITS-e includes creative writing pieces by postgraduate students within the Department and a contribution from a member of staff in the ECL Department. The administration of GLITS-e, including peer-reviewing, is conducted chiefly by postgraduate research students, with some support from academic staff.
In this issue, a wide range of critical concerns is raised, including linguistics (a first for the journal), nineteenth-century literary fandoms, transgressive myths, and modern female epics. The creative pieces, too, explore themes that are far removed from each other. These contributions are testament to the wealth of ideas that characterises Goldsmiths.
About the Contributors
Megha Agarwal is a PhD student in the Department of English and Comparative Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she attained an MA in Comparative Literary Studies and Criticism in 2012. Her thesis, supervised by Professor Lucia Boldrini, revolves around the transgressive impulse and the myths of Icarus, Orpheus, and the descent into hell. Her research interests include mythological criticism, literary relations or guidance, and comparative literature.
Angela Carlton is currently in her final year of her PhD at Goldsmiths. Her thesis pertains to representations of female travel in the modernist literature of Virginia Woolf, D.H. Lawrence, and Rebecca West.
Alessia Cogo is a lecturer in applied linguistics at Goldsmiths, where she teaches modules in sociolinguistics and global Englishes. She supervises PhD students in English as a Lingua Franca, multilingual aspects of ELF and English language pedagogy. She is Reviews Editor of English Language Teaching Journal as well as co-founder and co-convenor of the AILA Research Network on ELF. Her current research concerns ELF multilingual practices in professional, academic and immigration contexts. Her ELF-related publications include journal articles, edited volumes and a monograph with Martin Dewey, entitled Analyzing English as a Lingua Franca (Continuum, 2012).
Francis Gilbert is a Lecturer in Education at Goldsmiths, teaching on the PGCE Secondary English programme and the MA in Children’s Literature with Professor Michael Rosen. Previously, he worked for a quarter of a century in various English state schools teaching English and Media Studies to 11-18 year olds. He has also moonlighted as a journalist, novelist and social commentator both in the UK and international media. He is the author of Teacher On The Run, Yob Nation, Parent Power, Working The System -- How To Get The Very Best State Education for Your Child, and a novel about school, The Last Day Of Term. His first book, I'm A Teacher, Get Me Out Of Here was a big hit, becoming a bestseller and being serialised on Radio 4. In his role as an English teacher, he has taught many classic texts over the years and has developed a great many resources to assist readers with understanding, appreciating and responding to them both analytically and creatively. This led him to set up his own small publishing company FGI Publishing (fgipublishing.com) which has published his study guides as well as a number of books by other authors. He is the co-founder, with Melissa Benn and Fiona Millar, of The Local Schools Network, www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk, a blog that celebrates non-selective state schools, and also has his own website, www.francisgilbert.co.uk and a Mumsnet blog, www.talesbehindtheclassroomdoor.co.uk. He has appeared numerous times on radio and TV, including Newsnight, the Today Programme, Woman’s Hour and the Russell Brand Show. In June 2015, he was awarded a PhD in Creative Writing and Education by the University of London.
Evan Hayles Gledhill is a PhD student at the University of Reading working on a thesis exploring representations of the anomalous body, as a measure of cultural normativity, in Gothic fiction over the last two hundred years. Their research interests include the history of fandom, particularly exploring gendered audience expectations, and representations of heroic masculinity.
Yoanna Pak completed her MA in Creative and Life Writing at Goldsmiths in 2014. As a Canadian-born Korean writer, she has a deep interest in inter-generational and cultural co-operation. She is currently researching representations of Koreans in conflict in first generation, second generation and western literature. Her PhD is the continuation of her first novel which focuses on a Korean Vietnam War veteran and his Canadian born children.
