Laura Dietz

Laura is a novelist who combines writing fiction with the study of digital reading, science in literature, and post-print literary culture.

laura.dietz@anglia.ac.uk

Background

Alongside Laura's novels and stories she presents and publishes scholarly work, often exploring similar themes including credibility, identity, and how reputation is forged and communicated. Her current creative project is a novel about a biographer of Nikola Tesla – continuing a strand on the depiction of science – and her critical one is on the reputation and legitimacy of digitally distributed novels.

Laura welcomes additional PhD students, particularly those interested in literary culture or interdisciplinary approaches to creative writing.

Research interests

• The novel, particularly innovative forms
• Digital reading
• Post-print literary culture
• Modern literary magazines
• Historical fiction
• Creative writing
• Publishing
• Cognitive approaches to literature
• The presentation of science in contemporary fiction

Areas of research supervision

Laura would welcome PhD applications in creative writing, particularly those relating to her research interests (see above).

Recent PhD supervisions include:

• Writing the Mind, Reading the Other: Projecting the Transcultural Novel
• Creative: Changing Sides (novel); Critical: an accompanying commentary, provisionally titled, The Discourse of Madness
• Young Adult novel and commentary: The Goddesses, Giantesses and Norns of Norse Mythology: An Investigation of Their Changing Role in Modern Children's Fantasy Fiction

Qualifications

• MA Writing, Nottingham Trent
• PGCE Higher Education, Anglia Ruskin
• BA English, Stanford

Memberships, editorial boards

• Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing
• British Society for Literature and Science
• Society of Authors

Selected recent publications

Dietz, L., commissioned. The short story and digital media. In: Delaney, P. and Hunter, A. (Eds.). The Edinburgh Companion to the Short Story in English. Edinburgh: University of Edinburgh Press.

Dietz, L., accepted May 2015. Chapter 22: My Later Endeavors (chapter of Inventions). New Writing. Taylor & Francis, date TBA.

Dietz, L. Warwick, C. and Rayner, S., forthcoming. Auditioning for permanence: Reputation and legitimacy of electronically distributed novels. Logos. Brill, date TBA. 

Dietz, L., 2015. Who are you calling an author? Changing definitions of career legitimacy for novelists in the digital era. In: Evans, N and Davidson, G. (Eds.). Literary Careers in the Modern Era. London: Palgrave.

Dietz, L., 2014. Online vs. print reputation of literary fiction magazines. Short Fiction in Theory and Practice. Intellect, 4(1).

Dietz, L., 2013. Consider. New Writing. Taylor & Francis, 10(3), pp.261-266.

Dietz, L., 2012. Adaptive Fiction: How can evolutionary and cognitive approaches to literature impact creative writing? New Writing. Taylor & Francis, 9(2), pp.147-155. 

Dietz, L., 2007. In the Tenth House. New York: Random House (Crown).

Recent presentations and conferences

Dietz, L., Warwick, C., Rayner, S., 2015. 'Transaction' in Transition: Digital Novels and the Evolution of Epitext. Presented at SHARP (Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing) conference, McGill University, Montreal, 9 July 2015.

Dietz, L., Warwick, C., Rayner, S., 2014. Barbarians in the Temple: Bibliophilia and the ‘Bookness’ of Electronic Novels. Presented at SHARP (Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing) conference, University of Antwerp, 19 September 2014.

Dietz, L. Warwick, C., Rayner, S., 2014. Life as a novel after death as a book? Reputation and legitimacy of post-print literature. Presented at By the Book conference at Villa Finaly, Florence, 23 May 2014.

Beckett, C., Clements, D., Dietz, L. Swain, K. Holmes, J., 2014. Science as the Spark: literature inspired by Science, panel at Cambridge Festival of Science, 20 March 2014.

Dietz, L., 2013. Science Fiction: Scientism and the historical novel. Presented at National Association of Writers in Education annual conference, York, 15 November, 2013.

Dietz, L., 2011. The Post-Print Literary Magazine. Presented at National Association of Writers in Education annual conference, York, November 2011.

Dietz, L., 2011. Online versus Print Reputation of Literary Fiction Magazines. Presented at Out of Print: the Evolution of 20^th Century Writing conference, University of East Anglia, 16 September 2011.

Dietz, L., 2011. Adaptive Fiction: how can authors respond to questions on the evolutionary purpose of fiction?  Presented at British Society for Literature and Science conference, Cambridge University, 9 April 2011.

Bennett, R., Dietz, L., Guiney, K., Kukula, M., Swain, K., 2011. INcredible: Stories in Science.  Panel at the Cambridge Festival of Ideas, 26 October 2011.