University of Lincoln Research Showcase - 21st century literature

Engaging the Public with 21st Century Literature I think it's important to engage the public in 21st century literary criticism, primarily because literature is engaging with the human condition, it's representing the human condition. So it's fundamental to everybody. So I think involving the wider public in that discussion is crucial. Doctor Sian Adiseshiah, Senior Lecturer in English. Doctor Martin Paul Eve, Lecturer in Literature. Who decides what is good contemporary literature? That's the basis of our research: What makes the cannon of contemporary literature that we value? With 21st century literature, the debate is still ongoing about what's valuable, who are the great writers, what are the great texts. And what we've been trying to do is include a wider audience in that discussion. And we've been doing that through both face-to-face contact with local Lincolnshire publics in the form of, for example, the yearly Playwrites Festivals and events that we've organised. But also online, with a 21st century open-access literary magazine with short articles of literary criticism, that are very much aimed towards a non-academic public, and trying to involve those readers in discussions about the value of 21st century literature. Why is it that we have these closed silos of research? Why is it that we lock it away and don't allow the general public access? So to that end, I run a journal called Orbit - it's a journal of Pynchon scholarship that anybody can access for free on the internet. I also co-edit Alluvium, which is a short-form journal of 21st century literary criticism. So Alluvium has a very distinctive visual approach that has held to its take-up in schools around the country. We have a particular cohort in Bristol who regularly consult this for their sixth form work, and to whom I have actually gone and spoken on issues surrounding 21st century literature. On a worldwide basis, we've had hits from all the continents except Antarctica. On a regular basis we have a comment discussion underneath articles, and the ability to speak on other social media. That's where I see the real uptake for Orbit and my Pynchon work - Twitter is the place where that is happening. It's rare that a day goes past when somebody doesn't talk to me, somebody I don't know and have never met, around the world - It's rare that they don't talk to me about Pynchon for a single day. So that's quite good uptake, I would say.