About Us
Founded in 2012, Birkbeck's Centre for Contemporary Literature (CCL) is a meeting place for numerous ongoing projects by academic staff, creative writers and graduate students. The Centre hosts conferences and symposia, readings and seminars on a range of contemporary writers – in prose fiction but also potentially in other forms and media. The Centre for Contemporary Literature is currently directed by Caroline Edwards, and from 2012-2020 was directed by Joseph Brooker. Major contributors to our work and events also include Julia Bell, Katherine Angel, Mark Blacklock, Martin Eve, Grace Halden, Anna Hartnell, Toby Litt, Agnes Woolley and Roger Luckhurst. Numerous members of staff are also involved in related projects, notably including Richard Hamblyn, Mpalive Msiska, Louise Owen, Jacqueline Rose, Colin Teevan, Jodie Kim, Joanne Winning and Sean O'Brien.
Our main annual conferences and events include: Transitions: Mapping New Directions in Comics Studies (launched in 2009), The London Science Fiction Research Community annual conference (launched in 2017), the annual Man Booker at Birkbeck lecture (launched in 2011) and MIRLive, an exciting spoken-word night showcasing the best in new creative writing (launched in 2021).
Within Birkbeck, the following people are also associated with the Centre's activities and act in an advisory capacity:
- Heike Bauer (English)
- Matt Cook (History)
- Costas Douzinas (Law/Director of Birkbeck Institute of Humanities)
- Jason Edwards (Politics)
- Adam Gearey (Law)
- Patrick Hanafin (Law)
- John Kraniauskas (Iberian Studies)
- Esther Leslie (English)
- Elena Loizidou (Law)
- Colin MacCabe (Derek Jarman Lab)
- Laura Mulvey (Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image)
- Lynne Segal (Psychosocial Studies)
- Rob Swain (English/Theatre)
- Becky Taylor (History)
- Matthew Weait (Law)
- Ben Worthy (Politics)
We are open to suggestions for future projects and events, including collaborations with other departments, writers and artists, and non-academic institutions – please use the form on our Contact Us page if you would like to get in touch with a proposed event or activity.
Follow us on Twitter: @ccl_bbk
