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Josie Cray

Miss Josie Cray

(she)

Research student

School of English, Communication and Philosophy

Overview

I completed my BA in English Literature and English Language (2012-2015) and my MA in English Literature (2015-2016) at Cardiff University. I began my PhD in English Literature at Cardiff University in 2017 and currently study part time. My research interests include twentieth century women's writing, surrealism, fashion, maternity, and psychoanalysis.

Publication

2023

Book sections

Research

My thesis examines Anaïs Nin’s experimental writing and engagement with Surrealism. She places Nin's work in conversation with Surrealist women artists through her experimentation with and redeployment of surrealist aesthetics. Themes include maternity and motherhood, fashion and costume, and space.

Additional Interests include: Twentieth-century women's writing; Surrealism; Modernism; Feminist studies; and Gender studies.

Thesis

'Proceed from the Dream Outwards': Surrealism in the work of Anaïs Nin

My thesis examines Anaïs Nin’s experimental writing and engagement with Surrealism. She places Nin's work in conversation with Surrealist women artists through her experimentation with and redeployment of surrealist aesthetics. Themes include maternity and motherhood, fashion and costume, and space.

Funding sources

Cray’s work has been supported by the Sir Richard Stapley Educational Trust and the Reid Trust. 

Teaching

Modules taught include:

Critical Read and Critical Writing (2018 – 2021)

Ways of Reading (2018 – 2021)

MA Seminar ‘Writing Women’ (Autumn 2019)

BA Year 3 Lecture and Seminars ‘Scandal and Outrage: Controversial Literature of the 20th and 21st Centuries’ (1 week, Spring 2020).

I have completed the M-level Learning to Teach programme at Cardiff University.

I was also nominated and shortlisted for the ‘Graduate Tutor or Demonstrator’ award for Cardiff University’s Enriching Student Life Awards in 2018.

Supervisors

Research themes

Specialisms

  • English literature
  • Modernism
  • Feminist theory
  • Art history