Dr. Ursula Hurley

School of Arts and Media

Photo of Dr. Ursula Hurley

Contact Details

Crescent House 203

Please email for an appointment.

Current positions

Senior Lecturer in English & Creative Writing

Biography

I took a circuitous route to academia, having worked teaching English as a foreign language, in advertising, where I found myself mentoring other copy writers, and then in community engagement, where I helped others to express their needs and opinions. Eventually the penny dropped, and I realised that the power of language was my driving passion. Thus enlightened, I set up and ran the Writing Centre at Liverpool Hope University, winning a number of learning and teaching awards, before joining the Creative Writing team at Salford. Since then I have gained my Ph.D., become a prize-winning poet and prose writer, and continue to work in community engagement.

Areas of research

Creative process, Disability, Digital fabrication, Auto/biography, Translation

Teaching

My specialist, research-led modules focus on innovative practices in creative non-fiction.

Module leader for:

  • Writing Workshop (postgraduate)
  • Biography: Tradition and Innovation (year 3)
  • Creative Non-fiction (year 2)
  • I also contribute to the following team-taught modules:
  • Literary Research Practice (postgraduate)
  • Anthony Burgess and his Contemporaries (postgraduate)
  • Theory, Text, Writing (postgraduate)
  • Final Portfolio (year 3)

Research Interests

I am interested in the innovative application of creative processes. My creative practice plays on the boundaries of fiction and non-fiction, and my critical work explores contemporary understandings of 'truth' and 'fiction'. I am committed to engaging communities in creative practice research. Currently I am Principal Investigator for the AHRC's Connected Communities project, 'In the Making', investigating disability and 3D printing.

Qualifications and Memberships

Qualifications

  • BA (Hons) English, St. John's College, University of  Cambridge. 
  • Postgraduate scholarship, Collegio Ghislieri, University of Pavia, Italy.
  • MA Writing Studies (Distinction), University of Lancaster.
  • Ph.D. 'Truths and Their Telling': A Novel with Complementary Discourses, Manchester Metropolitan University.

Memberships

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
  • Member of the National Association of Writers in Education.