The Reading Writing Futures group offers one of Australia's largest PhD programs in literary studies and creative writing. We combine creative and critical methods to explore how literature shapes political agendas and affects our interactions with others and the world. Our research reexamines connections between cultural expressions, individuals and communities, and beings and places.
The School of Communication and Creative Arts conducts impactful research, collaborating with government, industry and non-profits. The Reading Writing Futures group has seven research streams.
Featuring award-winning writers, we explore literature's connections to settler-colonialism, its potential for decolonialism, representations of place, storytelling forms, print culture, and the importance of regional and global networks.
Featuring award-winning writers, we explore literature's connections to settler-colonialism, its potential for decolonialism, representations of place, storytelling forms, print culture, and the importance of regional and global networks.
We examine fan cultures and the interplay between genre fiction and politics, drawing on our expertise in fantasy and romance fiction.
We unite prominent writers and scholars in auto biography, autofiction, creative nonfiction and memoir to explore the potential forms of contemporary life writing and reimagine our interactions with the archive.
Our group of prominent and emerging poet-scholars is engaged in various fields, including First Nations poetries, public poetry, cross-disciplinary forms (like prose poetry and ekphrasis), social poetics, and translation.
We focus on interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis on feminist and LGBTIQ+ writing, exploring topics from local to transnational contexts. Our particular interest lies in research related to archives, education, diaspora and inclusion.
We examine embodied writing and performance, alongside the influence of AI technologies on writing, reading, and pedagogy, and the interplay between physical and virtual spaces.
Join our esteemed researchers in exploring how we use writing and reading to imagine possible futures. Connect with our researchers, learn more about our projects or discuss partnership opportunities.
The Reading Writing Futures group delivers innovative projects through our extensive professorial team.
Associate Professor Geoff Boucher is an associate professor in literary studies. He currently researches the authoritarian personality from the perspective of critical theory. He is an expert on Frankfurt School Critical Theory, Marxism and Psychoanalysis, Zizek and Lacan.
Dr Andrew Dean is a lecturer in writing and literature at the School of Communication and Creative Arts, with research focused on late 19th, 20th, and 21st century anglophone and American literature.
Associate Professor Kristine Moruzi is an associate professor in children's literature and literary studies in the School of Communication and Creative Arts. Her research areas include children's print culture in the nineteenth century, girls and girlhood, and contemporary children's and young adult literature.
Professor Cassandra Atherton, Deakin Distinguished Professor and Associate Head of School, Research
Dr Robin Bellingham, Senior Lecturer, Education (Pedagogy and Curriculum)
Lauren Bevilacqua, Associate Lecturer, Communication
Associate Professor Geoff Boucher, Associate Professor of Writing and Literature
Professor Clare Bradford, Emeritus Professor
Dr Gilbert Caluya, Senior Lecturer
Associate Professor Marion Campbell, Honorary Associate Professor
Associate Professor Sue Chen, Associate Professor, Writing and Literature
Dr Andrew Dean, Lecturer in Writing and Literature
Dr Jonathan Dunk, Lecturer
Dr Rachel Fetherston, Lecturer
Associate Professor Jessamy Gleeson, Associate Professor, Writing and Literature
Dr Karen Le Rossignol, Honorary Fellow
Dr Elizabeth Little, Lecturer in Education (Language and Literacy)
Dr Janine Little, Senior Lecturer in Communication
Dr Ramon Lopez Castellano, Lecturer in Spanish
Dr Stefanie Markidis, Lecturer
Dr Jodi McAlister, Senior Lecturer, Writing and Literature
Dr Emily McAvan, Teaching Fellow
Professor David McCooey, Personal Chair
Professor Lyn Mc Credden, Emeritus Professor
Dr Alyson Miller, Senior Lecturer
Associate Professor Kristine Moruzi, Associate Professor, Writing and Literature
Associate Professor Antonia Pont, Associate Professor, Writing and Literature
Professor Emily Potter, Professor, Writing and Literature
Dr Lenise Prater, Teaching Scholar, Creative Writing and Literature
Associate Professor Leonie Rutherford, Associate Professor of Writing and Literature
Dr Adriano Tedde, Lecturer, Strategic and American Studies
Associate Professor Paul Venzo, Associate Professor
Professor Ann Vickery, Professor, Writing and Literature
Associate Professor Patrick West, Associate Professor, Writing and Literature
Dr Helen Young, Senior Research Fellow (Future Fellowship)
Dr Tyson Yunkaporta, Senior Lecturer, Indigenous Knowledges
Our collaborations with government, community and industry enable impactful research and innovative solutions.
This Future Fellowship project, led by Dr. Helen Young, seeks to explore how narratives of the medieval past shape identities and propagate ideologies today, transcending political, temporal and national boundaries.
Led by Associate Professor Sue Chen, this project explores the communication and translation of science to young readers through literature in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It examines how children’s literature fostered scientific literacy and cultivated early interest in science.
Our ties with external partners ensure that our research connects with industry and community. Our partners include:
Our team is here to help you learn more about the Reading Writing Futures Group. Email our group convenors below or visit the Writing, Literature and Culture blog to keep up to date with the latest news.
