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Writing Cultures Research Group

The Writing Cultures research group is interested in the ways in which cultures are represented in writing and in the specific cultures of writing and publishing that generate these representations. We focus on how cultural preoccupations, industries and practices are produced and reproduced in written forms and the ways in which our own writing participates in this exchange. Our research draws connections between literary and extra-literary practice across a diverse range of genres in different media, different languages and from different historical periods. We see writing as an important part of understanding the way in which a culture forms, its modes and practices, its discursive tensions and its points of cohesion.

Uniquely in the national field, this Centre focuses on a broad range of both contemporary and historical practice in differing media, from the early modern cultures of manuscript circulation to contemporary cultures of writing using the internet. It aims to both examine and generate specific writing cultures/cultures of writing and to conduct comparative research between these fields. It incorporates the Centre for Literary and Linguistic Computing, which has established its reputation as an international leader within its field by linking technical analyses of writing with the cultures of writing and interpretation in which texts are produced.

Our Centre already has strong links with local and national organisations, including collaborations in 2008 with the Hunter Writers Centre and Sydney Writers Festival, and it aims to further those links at a national and international level. The Centre is interested in the dissemination of its research and expertise beyond academia to the broader community, and is already a provider of services to educational, writing and publishing institutions within the region. Two of our primary aims as a Centre are to extend these local links to a national and international level, and to develop our provision of services to relevant areas of government and industry.

The functions of the Centre are:

To conduct research into the intersection between writing and culture through analyses of specific writing cultures, institutions and practices.
To examine the intersection of writing and culture through practice: including fostering new literary forms, texts and writers and the dissemination of these voices through innovative publication
To network with writers, scholars and institutions through conferences, symposia, workshops, seminars and publication
To generate external research funding from government and non-government bodies
To develop an existing strength in postgraduate research through supervision, pursuit of external funding, publication and through the continued development of a dynamic research culture