Dr. Ursula Hurley
School of Arts and Media
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
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)
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
- 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.