Post Doctoral Research Fellow in Newcastle upon Tyne

Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team, you will support the Principal Investigator in delivery of research activity on the UKRI-funded Future Leaders Fellowship project, Towards a Global Women’s Book History 1600-1900. The successful candidate will be invited to join the team working on feminist book histories, past and present. The project aims to make more visible the diverse women who contributed to the history of the book, in order to inform and strengthen attempts to capture the increasing diversity of the creative economy today.

This role will contribute to the strand of the project that mobilises feminist book historical methodologies to consider equitable book futures, by focusing on current publishing practices and library collecting policies in the UK and Ireland. The purpose of the position is to examine the role of women in the contemporary British and Irish publishing landscape, particularly exploring intersections with regional, micro/small presses and self-publication. It will interrogate the British Library’s Legal Deposit collection, and its archival collections of contemporary women-led presses, ensuring greater understanding and representation of the motivation and activities of women in this space.

This role will be line managed and mentored by Dr Helen Williams and Dr Diletta De Cristofaro at Northumbria University and by Chloe Hemsley and Stella Wisdom at the British Library. The role is Newcastle based with regular travel to the British Library (primarily the Boston Spa branch, though there will be opportunities to engage with the team at St Pancras) and will become part of the wider team of staff at both institutions.

The British Library collects the publishing output of the UK and Ireland under the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003. This project will combine exploration of existing collections and research on current publishing practices to discover the extent of female-led publishing represented in the British Library’s archives, whilst building a broader sense of women’s roles in publishing and book creation today. This role will develop existing networks of knowledge around micro/small press and self-publication, with the potential for a regional focus. The role will have the opportunity to impact the Library’s collecting practices, informing publisher engagement and ensuring greater representation of women-led publishing in its collection.

The project calls for an interdisciplinary approach encompassing critical archival studies, research and engagement with the publishing industry, and feminist historiography to interrogate the research questions outlined below. The successful candidate will be embedded within the Contemporary British and Irish Publications Team at the British Library, working to understand and engage with women’s publishing activities, and the contemporary collection. Case studies will contextualise and deepen analysis of female-led presses within the publishing landscape. Ultimately, the candidate will be encouraged and empowered to devise their own focus area on women’s roles within publishing and book production, with particular reference to Legal Deposit collecting and improving representation in Library collections.

• What are the motivations and activities of women in the publishing landscape of the UK and Ireland?
• How is female-led publishing being represented in the national collection?
• What is the role of gender in determining whether presses are archived in the national library?
• How can the British Library ensure greater representation of women’s work in book production through its contemporary collecting practices?

This role is a fixed term appointment. The role will be undertaken on a part-time basis, for 15 hours per week, over 2 years. In addition, the successful candidate will be eligible for an additional research allowance courtesy of the British Library, up to £1,000 per financial year or part-time equivalent, for the duration of the project.

Applicants should hold a PhD in a related discipline (e.g. Literature, History, Art History, Publishing, Information Science). The successful candidate will be based at Northumbria University's Newcastle campus whilst regularly visiting the British Library at Boston Spa (and potentially St Pancras). Applicants must be able to demonstrate an interest in the museums, galleries, archives and library sector and potential and enthusiasm for developing skills more widely in related areas. Northumbria University and the British Library are keen to encourage applications from a diverse range of people, from different backgrounds and career stages, and particularly welcome those currently underrepresented in postdoctoral research.

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