A Review of 2009

It's been a full year since I started down the PhD road and at times it doesn't feel like I've gotten very far at all. To be honest, I've only been officially on the MPhil/PhD programme since mid-October. The preceding ten months were spent on University of Chichester's Probationer's Scheme, a sort of feeder road leading to the PhD highway, filling out applications, applying for funding, applying for more funding, building my 'writing profile', attending conferences and doing preliminary research into my subject. Lordy, I've filled out a lot of forms this year...


Here's a list of what I've actually done this past year:
  • completed a 7,000-word Literature Review of fiction, historical texts and theoretical works pertaining to my research;
  • finalised my research proposal;
  • applied for funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (a three-month long process which was highly stressful yet ultimately unsuccessful);
  • attended three conferences (The Uncanny, Playful Paradox and NAWE);
  • presented at two conferences (Playful Paradox and NAWE);
  • attended the Small Wonder Short Story Festival;
  • applied to the University of Chichester and was accepted as an MPhil/PhD student;
  • started this blog;
  • completed outline of novel;
  • wrote 8,000 words of novel since beginning of December;
  • applied for Studentship at University of Chichester;
  • was shortlisted and interviewed for above;
  • submitted work to 29 journals/magazines/competitions;
  • published 4 travel articles, 4 book reviews, 2 short stories;
  • had 8 short stories shortlisted for prizes.
  • Oh yeah - I also spent 2 months riding my bicycle from Alaska to Idaho (by far the easiest part of the year).
I'm assured by my supervisor that I'm on track, but I'm still prone to periods of serious self-doubt in which I wonder if I'm really meant to be doing any of this.

Comments

kate leader said…
I wish you all the best for the New Year and hope that you will be able to meet all your targets. I haven't read all of the work you have posted, but look forward to it.
I will try and leave a comment for each one.
Well done. You have produced a very interesting and worthwhile blog. Have linked it with my email to follow your progress.
31/12/09 21:00
Sarah Hegarty said…
Thanks for a really interesting read - your research is fascinating, and I enjoyed browsing through the links. I shall follow your progress closely and take inspiration from it! You've already inspired me to set my own writing goals for 2010 - good luck with yours!
2/1/10 12:04
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gathering historical research on William Clark's Nez Perce son

Image
During the past year, I have been attempting to gather all available information about William Clark’s supposed Nez Perce son, variously known as Tzi-Kal-Tza, Halahtookit, Al-pa-to-kate, Daytime Smoke(r), and Son of Daytime Smoker. The name I find the most poignant, however, the name that links into my research on personal identity, is the one he is said to have called himself – Clark (Moulton, vol 7, p 241). * The idea for my project started to emerge about ten years ago, when I visited the Nez Perce Historical Museum in my hometown of Lewiston, Idaho. Among the exhibits were collections of artifacts from early white settlers, the Nez Perce tribe, and the Lewis and Clark expedition which passed through the region twice: in September 1805, on their way to the west coast; and in May 1806, on their return journey to St. Louis. As I grew up in Lewiston, I thought I knew the history of the area fairly well, but tucked into a display of beaded gauntlets and stone tools was a piece of i...
Continue Reading...

A Discussion of Sherman Alexie's novel, Indian Killer

Image
          A year after the acclaimed Reservation Blues , Sherman Alexie’s second novel, Indian Killer received reticent praise when it was published in 1996. It is a book which he, himself, seems both drawn to and repelled by. In a 2002 interview with Duncan Campbell, Alexie states ‘It’s the only one [of my books] I re-read. I think a book that disturbs me that much is the one I probably care the most about’ 1 . He has expressed dissatisfaction with it, artistically, describing it as a failed mystery novel and ‘pretentious’ for its literary ambitions 2 . Maya Jaggi writes that he has now distanced himself from the novel and feels ‘overwhelming disgust’ [Alexie’s words] towards the violence portrayed 3 . Apparent in Reservation Blues , his previous collection of short stories The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven , and his poetry, Alexie’s own rage rises to its peak in this novel, with an outpouring of fictional vengeance for historic...
Continue Reading...

Quotes from Chief Joseph

Image
I’ve recently been re-reading Chief Joseph’s account of the Nez Perce War and subsequent internment in Indian Territory, and like many before me have been struck by the eloquence and power of his words. Whether this eloquence comes directly from Joseph himself or from the transcriber hardly seems to matter. The power behind the words is Joseph’s. I am also struck by the continuing relevance of his words and how they mirror so much of what we tend to think of as ‘modern democratic values’ and Christian teaching.  +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Chief Joseph: Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt / In-mut-too-yah-lat-lat  (Thunder Rolling Down the Mountain) Our fathers gave us many laws, which they had learned from their fathers. These laws were good. They told us to treat all men as they treated us; that we should never be the first to break a bargain; that it was a disgrace to tell a lie; that we should speak only the truth; tha...
Continue Reading...