Helena Blakemore is a Senior Lecturer and the Programme Leader for BA Creative & Professional Writing, Director of The Writing Centre, which located in the School of Arts and Digital Industries, and a member of the ADI School Quality Standards Committee . 

Helena is currently the elected Vice Chair of the Higher Education Network Committee of the National Association of Writers in Education, and has written and delivered conference papers in the UK and the USA on the subjects of professional development, post-graduate research, student diversity, and pedagogy as they relate to the study and teaching of Creative Writing. 

Shortform CV

Qualifications

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, 2009
• MA (Dist.) Queen Mary College, University of London, 1988
• BA (Hons) Upper II, Middlesex University, 1987

UEL teaching/administrative/research responsibilities

• Programme Leader and Senior Lecturer, BA Creative & Professional Writing
• Module leader:
  • CC1100 Critical Approaches to Creative Writing
  • CC1102 The Writer's Voice
  • CC2000 The Writer's World (Professional Development for Creative Writing students)
  • CC2105 Story and Myth
  • CC3000 Research Dissertation for Creative Writing students
• Member of ADI School Quality Standards Committee

External responsibilities

• 2009-present: Member of the Editorial Board, Writers in Education (NAWE journal)
• 2007-present: Elected member of the Higher Education Committee, National Association of Writers in Education (Subject Association for Creative Writing in the UK)

Previous posts held

• 2011: External Advisor, BA Creative Writing (Distance Learning), Goldsmith's University of London
• 2010: External Examiner for PhD in Creative Writing by Publication, University of Bangor
• 2007-2010: External examiner, BA Creative & Media Writing, Middlesex University
• 2009: External Advisor, Foundation Degree in Professional Writing, Weston College (Bath Spa University)
• 2008: External Reviewer for BA/BSc Creative Writing, University Review Panel, Roehampton University
• 1998-2001: Folio Tutor, BA Acting, East 15 Acting School (part time)
• 1992-2000: Lecturer, Literature and Creative Writing, Middlesex University (part-time)

• Creative writing practice and pedagogy
• Media and cultural relationships
• Literary and cultural value
• Employability and diversity issues

• Module Leader: CC1100 Critical Approaches to Creative Writing
• Module Leader: CC1102 The Writer's Voice
• Module Leader: CC2105 Story and Myth
• Module Leader: CC2000 The Writer's World (Professional Development for Creative Writing students)
• Module Leader: CC3000 Research Dissertation for Creative Writing

All publications post 2001:

• Summer 2009: Guest editor, Writers in Education, Issue 48: ‘Word and Image'
• October 2008: Co-author of first Subject Benchmark Statement for Creative Writing, published by Higher Education Committee of National Association of Writers in Education http://www.nawe.co.uk/metadot/index.pl?id=2497&isa=Category&op=show

Poetry

• May 2010: Poetry reading at Hearing Eye Press/Torriano  House, London NW5
• Summer 2009: ‘In Sanctuary’ in Writers in Education (NAWE journal), Issue 48: ‘Word and Image'

Reviews

• 2012- Peer Reviewer for darkmatter
• 2011- Peer Reviewer for Write4Children: The International Journal for the Practice and Theories of Writing for Children and Children’s Literature - www.write4children.org/
• 2010- Peer Reviewer for New Writing: The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing
• Review of Story: The Heart of the Matter (2007), ed. Dr Maggie Butt (London: Greenwich Exchange) in Writers in Education (NAWE journal), Autumn 2007

Book chapters

• 2002: Appendix 10: “Gender Bias in Publishing and Reviewing” in Bestsellers: Popular Fiction Since 1900, ed. Clive Bloom, Palgrave, pp. 252-253; ISBN 0-333-687437
• 2001: “Eyes on the Prize” in Literature, Politics and Intellectual Crisis in Britain Today, ed. Clive Bloom (London: Palgrave), pp. 94-118; ISBN 0-333-77833-2

Journal articles

• Report on AWP Chicago Conference (promoting UK Creative Writing PhD) in Writers in Education (NAWE journal), issue 56, Spring 2012
• "Whose Stories? Diversity and Development in HE Teaching" in Writers in Education (NAWE Journal), issue 44, Spring 2008
• "Writers in the World: professional development for Creative Writing students" in Writers in Education (NAWE Journal), issue 44, Spring 2008
• On-line article/case study: “Working in the Culture Industries” in collection Case Studies of Employment Related Practice, for the Media Employability Project at University of Sunderland - director & commissioning editor Prof. Sue Thornham [www.mediaemployability.co.uk]

Conference papers

• March 2012: Conference paper for panel "Creativity in Crisis: What’s the Future for the Imagination in University Writing Programs?", AWP Annual Conference, Chicago IL, with Steve Mayand Tim Middleton (Bath Spa), Nigel McLoughlin (Gloucester), and Barbara Large (Winchester)
• November 2011: Panel contributor "Making It: What a Degree in Creative Writing Has Done For Me", with graduate Danielle Jawando; also Workshop Convener, with Maggie Butt – ‘The Creative Space’, NAWE Annual Conference, Northampton
• February 2011: Paper and Panel discussion - ‘Why Creative Writing Research Matters: Creative Writing and Today's Academy’ at AWP Annual Conference, Washington DC, with  Graeme  Harper and Nigel NcLoughlin
• November 2010: Workshop convener, with Maggie Butt – ‘The Creative Space’ at NAWE Annual Conference, Cheltenham
• April 2010: ‘Ebb and Flow: The Evolution of the Creative Practice Doctorate’ (collaborative research project with Christina Reading, University of Brighton), presented at AWP Annual Conference, Denver
• November 2009: Panel chair -‘Writing the Visual’; workshop convener with Stacey Pogoda – ‘Stories that Play’ at NAWE Annual Conference, Hampshire
• February 2009: ‘Can you do Monday…? The role of part-time tutors’ on NAWE panel ‘Qualifying for University Employment in Creative Writing’, at American Association of Writers & Writing Programs Annual Conference, Chicago
• January 2009: invited chair of workshop at Creative Writing and Part-Time Teaching: No longer just an apprenticeship? (Cardiff University, organised by the English Subject Centre)
• November 2008: ‘Developing the Subject Benchmark for Creative Writing’ (with Steve May and Patricia Debney) at NAWE Annual Conference, Manchester
• January 2008: Paper on professional developmenet opportunities for creative writing students on NAWE panel 'Old York, New York: a picture of the UK's literary culture' at AWP Annual Conference, New York
• November 2007: Paper and panel member for discussion ‘Writers in the World – Professional Development for Writring Students’, and paper ‘Whose Stories? Teaching diverse student groups’ at The Way Ahead – The Future of Creative Writing in Education, annual conference of National Association of Writers in Education (NAWE), The Hawkhills, York
• June 2004: Participated in London Biennale 2004 [www.londonbiennale.org], culminating in an exibition of artwork at The Foundry, London EC1
• November 2003: co-writer/presenter of paper entitled “The Kindness of Strangers: Contexts and Connections in Teaching, Learning and Creative Practice”, with Sylvie Prasad at Beyond Two Digits – Media Practice Education for the 21st Century, Association of Media Practice Educators (AMPE) 2003 Conference at the University of Sunderland

Research papers

• June 2008: ‘Teaching Diverse Student Groups’ for Diversity & Inclusion Research Seminar - Education: Policy, Pedagogy, and Practice Research Group, School of Social Sciences, Media & Cultural Studies, UEL
• January 2009: ‘Developing Subject Benchmarks’ for Education: Policy, Pedagogy, and Practice Research Group Seminar, School of Social Sciences, Media & Cultural Studies, UEL

Guest Speaker

• Nov. 2010: ‘Teaching English Literature and Creative Writing: A Workshop for Early Career Lecturers’: invited speaker and workshop convener at two-day event organised by the English Subject Centre, King’s College London
• Sept. 2010: 'What will Creative Writing teaching look like in ten years time?': keynote speaker at English Subject Centre’s 10th Anniversary celebration, King’s College London

Key publications pre 2001:

Book chapters:

• 1993: “W.H. Auden”in The English Critical Tradition, ed. Gary Day, Insight series (London: Macmillan)
• 1993: “Leslie Charteris and The Saint”in Twentieth Century Suspense: The Thriller Comes of Age, ed. Clive Bloom, Insight series (London: Macmillan)
• 1990: “Acid – Burning A Hole In The Present”in Readings In Popular Culture, ed. Gary Day, Insight series (London: Macmillan)