Biography summary
Emily Potter is Professor in Literary Studies, and Associate Head of School (Research) for the School of Communication and Creative Arts. Her research sits in an interdisciplinary space, focusing on the intersections of cultural production and environments. Her areas of expertise include literature and climate change, literature and place-making, urban design and poetic practice, the biopolitics of water and consumption, contemporary Australian literature, and postcolonial texts and environments.
Emily is the author of Writing Belonging at the Millennium: Notes from the Field of Settler Colonial Place (Uni Chicago) and co-author of Plastic Water: The Social and Political Life of Bottled Water (with Gay Hawkins and Kane Race, MIT Press). She is lead investigator of an ARC Special Research Initiative Project, ‘Reading in the Mallee: The Literary Past and Future of an Australian Region’ (with CIs Brigid Magner and Torika Bolatagici), and has held three other ARC grants, including as an ARC Postdoctoral Research Fellow (University of Melbourne). She is co-convenor (with Fiona Miller and Eva Lovbrand) of international “The Shadow Places Network: A collaboration to re-imagine and co-produce connections for justice in an era of climate change”, funded by the Mistra Formas Seed Box Environmental Humanities Collaboratory, Sweden. She is co-editor of the Journal of Australian Studies and Treasurer of ASAL (Association for the Study of Australian Literature).
Research interests
Literature and climate change
Literary and cultural studies approaches to the environment, including cities and architectures;
The politics of place, place-making and belonging;
The efficacy of texts and writing - the question of what literature can do in the world.
Literary geographies and regional literary production
Reading cultures and reader studies
Extractivism and literary imaginaries
Teaching interests
Literature and the environment, especially climate change, literature and place, contemporary Australian literature, decolonising literary practice, reading cultures, regional literary history.
Units taught
T1 and T3 Unit Chair ALL381 'Reading the End of Nature'
Knowledge areas
Literary and cultural studies; literature and climate change; environmental humanities; post-colonial and Australian literature; architecture, design and place-making; regional literary history; reading cultures
Projects
ARC Special Research Initiative Project, 'Reading in the Mallee: The Literary Past and Future of an Australian Region', (with Dr Brigid Magner and Dr Torika Bolatagici).
The Shadow Places Network: a network of scholars, artists and activists who collaborate to document, co-produce and reimagine connections between places and peoples in an era of climate change (www.shadowplaces.net). A collaboration with CIs Dr Fiona Miller, Macquarie and Dr Eva Lovbrand, Linkoping University.
Making more-than-literary place: urban place making and literary work. A collaboration with Dr Kirsten Seale, UNSW.
Publications
Emily Potter, Katya Johanson, Molan D'Arcy
(2024), Vol. 106, pp. 1-11, Journal of Rural Studies, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, C1
Plastic City: Temporality, Materiality, and Waste in Vanessa Berry's Mirror Sydney
Emily Potter, Kirsten Seale
(2023), pp. 261-275, Plastics, Environment, Culture, and the Politics of Waste, Edinburgh, Scotland, B1
Brigid Magner, Emily Potter
(2023), pp. 116-133, Women and Water in Global Fiction, London, Eng., B1
The Regional Novel in Australia
Emily Potter, Brigid Magner
(2023), pp. 454-471, The Cambridge History of the Australian Novel, Cambridge, Eng., B1
Emily Potter, Katya Johanson
(2023), pp. 217-238, Cultural Policy is Local: Understanding Cultural Policy as Situated Practice, London, Eng., B1
Imagining Mallee Readers: Literary Infrastructures of a Regional Community
Brigid Magner, Emily Potter
(2023), Vol. 35, pp. 233-250, Antipodes: a global journal of Australian/New Zealand literature, Brooklyn, N.Y., C1
Emily Potter
(2023), Vol. 54, pp. 27-54, ariel: A Review of International English Literature, Baltimore, Md., C1
Seeking Greener Pages: An Analysis of Reader Response to Australian Eco-Crime Fiction
Rachel Fetherston, Emily Potter, Kelly Miller, Devin Bowles
(2023), pp. 1-21, AUSTRALIAN HUMANITIES REVIEW, C1
Australian Regional Literary History: Rethinking Limits and Boundaries
Emily Potter
(2023), Vol. 23, pp. 1-12, Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, Sydney, N.S.W., JO3
Emily Potter
(2022), pp. 224-237, The Routledge Handbook of Waste Studies, Abingdon, Eng., B1
Emily Potter, Fiona Miller, Eva Lovbrand, Donna Houston, Jessica McLean, Emily O'Gorman, Clifton Evers, Gina Ziervogel
(2022), Vol. 5, pp. 272-292, ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING E-NATURE AND SPACE, C1
Emily Potter
(2022), Westerly, C1
Recognizing the Mallee : Reading Groups and the Making of Literary Knowledge in Regional Australia
Brigid Magner, Emily Potter
(2021), Vol. 12, pp. 1-28, Mémoires du livre / Studies in Book Culture, [Sherbrooke, Canada], C1
Jack Kirne, Emily Potter
(2021), pp. 1-20, ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, Oxford, Eng., C1
'A Talented Daughter of the Mallee': Myra Morris Meets Regional Readers
Brigid Magner, Emily Potter
(2021), Vol. 36, pp. 1-32, Australian Literary Studies, Wollongong, N.S.W., C1
E Potter
(2020), Vol. 57, pp. 1536-1552, Urban Studies, C1
E Potter, K Seale
(2020), Vol. 27, pp. 367-378, Cultural Geographies, C1
'Brothers and Sisters of the Mallee': book talk etween isolated readers across time
B Magner, E Potter
(2020), Vol. 65, pp. 20-37, Westerly, C1
Writing belonging at the millennium : notes from the field on settler-colonial place
Emily Potter
(2019), Chicago, Ill., A1
Shared reading in the Victorian Mallee
Brigid Magner, Emily Potter
(2019), pp. 177-208, Book Publishing in Australia : a living legacy, Melbourne, Vic., B1
Wandering and placemaking in London: Iain Sinclair's Literary Methodology
Kirsten Seale, Emily Potter
(2019), Vol. 22, pp. 1-1, M/C Journal, Brisbane, Qld., C1
Kurangk/Coorong atmospheres: Postcolonial stories and regional futures
Emily Potter, Brigid Magner
(2019), Vol. 23, pp. 1-21, TEXT: Journal of Writing and Writing Programs, Gold Coast, Qld., C1
Murray-Mallee imaginaries: towards a literary history of a region
E Potter, Brigid Magner
(2018), Vol. 1, pp. 1-18, Journal of the Association for the study of Australian literature, Sydney, N.S.W., C1
Expanding Australian literary history through geography: repression, recovery, re-writing
E Potter, Brigid Magner
(2018), Vol. 4, pp. 29-33, Literary geographies, Crewe, Eng., C1
L'eau en bouteille: marchés, matérialité et bio politiques. Introduction
G Hawkins, E Potter, K Race
(2018), Vol. 12, pp. 681-698, Revue d’anthropologie des connaissances, [Grenoble, France], C1
De l'eau mise en bouteille. Chapitre 1
G Hawkins, E Potter, K Race
(2018), Vol. 12, pp. 699-725, Revue d'anthropologie des connaissances, [Grenoble, France], C1
The gathering storm: Adelaide's olive trees in a changing climate
E Potter
(2017), Vol. 55, pp. 225-232, Griffith review 55: state of hope, South Brisbane, Qld., B1
E Potter
(2017), Vol. Special issue: prose poetry, pp. 1-7, TEXT: journal of writing and writing programs, Nathan, Qld., C1
E Potter
(2016), pp. 225-232, Teaching climate change in the humanities, Abingdon, Eng., B1
Plastic water the social and material life of bottled water
G Hawkins, E Potter, K Race
(2015), Cambridge, M.A., A1
Scarcity and the making of bottled water markets in Chennai, India
E Potter
(2015), pp. 105-114, Informal urban street markets : international perspectives, New York, N.Y., B1
Programme: dreaming, timekeeping, becoming
E Potter
(2014), pp. 100-120, Assembling the Centre: Architecture for Indigenous Cultures Australia and Beyond, London, Eng., B1-1
Postcolonial atmospheres: recalling our shadow places
E Potter
(2014), pp. 75-86, By-Roads and Hidden Treasures Mapping Cultural Assets in Regional Australia, Crawley, W. A., B1-1
Climate change and non-Indigenous belonging in postcolonial Australia
E Potter
(2013), Vol. 27, pp. 30-40, Continuum, Melbourne, Vic., C1
Introduction : making Indigenous place in the Australian city
E Potter
(2012), Vol. 15, pp. 131-142, Postcolonial studies, Melbourne, Vic., C1
Introducing ethical consumption
T Lewis, E Potter
(2011), pp. 3-23, Ethical consumption : a critical introduction, Oxon, U. K., B1
Drinking to live : the work of ethically-branded bottled water
E Potter
(2011), pp. 116-130, Ethical consumption : a critical introduction, Oxon, England, B1
J McGaw, A Pieris, E Potter
(2011), Vol. 16, pp. 296-311, Architectural theory review, Melbourne, Vic., C1
The ethics of rural place-making : public space, poetics, and the ontologies of design
E Potter
(2010), Vol. 16, pp. 1-13, Cultural studies review, Sydney, N.S.W., C1-1
The Ethics of Rural Place-Making Public Space, Poetics, and the Ontologies of Design
Emily Potter
(2010), Vol. 16, pp. 14-26, CULTURAL STUDIES REVIEW, C1-1
E Potter
(2009), pp. 159-169, Culture, politics, ethics: interdisciplinary reflections, Oxfordshire, England, B1
E Potter
(2009), pp. 65-74, Landscapes and learning : place studies for a global world, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, B1
Calculating interests : climate change and the politics of life
E Potter
(2009), Vol. 12, pp. 1-11, M/C journal, Brisbane, Qld., C1
Environmental art and the production of publics : responding to environmental change
E Potter
(2009), Vol. 3, pp. 1-6, The international journal of the arts in society, Altona, Vic., C1
A new environmental design : sustainable place making in postcolonial Australia
E Potter
(2009), Vol. 23, pp. 697-707, Continuum : journal of media and cultural studies, Melbourne, Vic., C1
Climate Change and the Problem of Representation
Emily Potter
(2009), pp. 67-77, AUSTRALIAN HUMANITIES REVIEW, C1
Sustaining collaborations : creative research and cross-cultural engagement
E Potter, J McGaw
(2009), pp. 1-8, ANZAScA 2009 : Performative ecologies in the built environment / Sustainable research across disciplines : Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference of the Architectural Science Association, University of Tasmania, Launceston, Tasmania, E1
Communicating climate change: public responsiveness and matters of concern
E Potter, C Oster
(2008), pp. 116-126, Media international Australia, incorporating culture and policy, Brisbane, Qld., C1-1
Australia and the new geographies of climate change
E Potter, P Starr
(2008), pp. 127-138, Australian humanities review, Canberra, A.C.T., C1-1
A sustainable practice: rethinking nature in cultural research
E Potter
(2008), Vol. 22, pp. 171-178, Continuum, Abingdon, England, C1-1
Reimagining place : the possibilities of Paul Carter's 'Nearamnew'
E Potter
(2007), pp. 246-258, Fresh water : new perspectives on water in Australia, Carlton, Vic., B1-1
E Potter, S McKenzie
(2007), pp. 1-7, Fresh water: new perspectives on water in Australia, Carlton, Vic., B1-1
Beyond the Rabbit-Proof Fence : audience response and an ethic of care
K Schaffer, E Potter
(2007), pp. 187-202, Australia - who cares?, Perth, W.A., B1-1
The art of speaking at that place: Paul Carter's Golden Grove and mythopoeic practice.
E Potter
(2006), Vol. 66, pp. 181-196, Southerly : the magazine of the Australian English Association, Sydney, N.S.W., C1-1
Waste matter: potatoes, thing-power and biosociality
G Hawkins, E Potter
(2006), Vol. 12, pp. 104-115, Cultural studies review, Carlton, Vic., C1-1
Andrew McGahan's The White Earth and the ecological poetics of memory
E Potter
(2006), Vol. 20, pp. 177-182, Antipodes, Brooklyn, N.Y., C1-1
Ecological crisis and Australian literary representation
E Potter
(2005), pp. 1-8, Australian humanities review, Bundoora, Vic., C1-1
Ecological becoming and the marketplace of knowledge
E Potter
(2004), pp. 101-112, Innovation and tradition : the arts, humanities, and the knowledge economy, New York, N. Y., B1-1
Disorienting horizons : encountering the past in Chloe Hooper's A Child's Book of True Crime
E Potter
(2004), Vol. 3, pp. 95-102, Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, Toowoomba, Qld., C1-1
Rabbit-Proof Fence , relational ecologies and the commodification of indigenous experience
E Potter, K Schaffer
(2004), pp. 1-9, Australian humanities review, Bundoora, Vic., C1-1
Funded Projects at Deakin
Australian Competitive Grants
From the Tap to the Bottle: an international study of the social and material life of bottled water
A/Prof Gay Hawkins, Dr Kane Race, Prof Emily Potter
ARC - Discovery Projects
- 2010: $5,000
- 2009: $20,000
Indigenous Placemaking in Central Melbourne: Representations, Practices and Creative Research (DU component)
Dr Janet McGaw, Prof Emily Potter
ARC Linkage - Projects Rnd 1
- 2012: $10,000
Reading in the Mallee: The Literary Past and Future of an Australian Region
Prof Emily Potter, Dr Brigid Magner, Dr Torika Bolatagici
ARC Special Research Initiatives
- 2023: $90,290
- 2022: $79,409
- 2021: $74,334
- 2020: $21,874
Other Public Sector Funding
Landscaping to Manufacturing: The Wool Industry in Geelong
Prof Clare Bradford, Prof Hisham Elkadi, A/Prof Dirk De Bruyn, Prof Andrea Witcomb, Prof Emily Potter
City of Greater Geelong - Creative Communities Grants
- 2013: $5,000
Walking the Murray, Reading Mildura
Prof Emily Potter, Dr Brigid Magner
Mildura Rural City Council
- 2018: $2,000
Program Evaluation for Creative State Actions
Prof Katya Johanson, Prof Hilary Glow, Dr Anne Kershaw, Prof Emily Potter
Department of Jobs, Precincts & Regions
- 2020: $35,627
- 2019: $27,272
- 2018: $72,727
Industry and Other Funding
The Shadow Places Network: collaboration to re-imagine and co-produce connections for justice in an era of climate change
Prof Emily Potter, Dr Fiona Miller, Dr Eva Lovbrand
The Seed Box
- 2018: $19,942
Other Funding Sources
The Cultural Research Network
Prof Emily Potter, Prof Graeme Turner
ARC Grant - Research Networks
- 2012: $2,000
Supervisions
Eliza-Jane Henry-Jones
Thesis entitled: Salt and Skin: Climate Change in Australia and Orkney
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Communication and Creative Arts
Rachel Fetherston
Thesis entitled: Reading for Nature: Non-human Representation in Australian Ecofiction
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Communication and Creative Arts
Samantha Phillips
Thesis entitled: False Gods and Faultlines: Reading Great Recession Fiction
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Communication and Creative Arts
Simon Jeffrey Wilmot
Thesis entitled: Between Home and Away: Documentary Filmmaking as a Placemaking Practice
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Communication and Creative Arts
David Sydney Harris
Thesis entitled: Contemporary Australian Novels and Crises of Ecologies
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Communication and Creative Arts
D'Arcy Molan
Thesis entitled: The Wimmera Speaks: Adaptive Work, Poetic Histories, and Place-based Arts
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Communication and Creative Arts
Linda Wells
Thesis entitled: THE BUNGALOW ALICE SPRINGS 1914-1929
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Communication and Creative Arts
Jack Kirne
Thesis entitled: Stray Writing: Ecology, Geoengineering and Writing in the Climate Crisis
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Communication and Creative Arts
Lynda Roberts
Thesis entitled: On Going Public: A Field Guide for Making Art Public in Melbourne 2014 - 2019.
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Communication and Creative Arts
Samuel Cadman
Thesis entitled: Anthropocentrism and the Novel
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Communication and Creative Arts
Caroline Tiffany
Thesis entitled: On The Nature Strip - an exegesis
Doctor of Philosophy, School of Communication and Creative Arts