Research Details
Subject Area: Creative writing
Supervisor: Dr Alan Bilton
Research Degree: PhD
Thesis Title: Borders: Exploring the Impact of the US/Mexico Border on Local Communities
Borders: Exploring the Impact of the US/Mexico Border on Local Communities
Research Synopsis
The dissertation novel I’m writing is set on the southern border of California. The novel explores a fractured family’s relationship as an estranged father, David Bray, attempts to reconcile with his three children, two of whom live in Tijuana, Mexico. The year is 2040 and memories have been commodified and are being bought and sold by a company the protagonist, Sol, works for. His main client is Mr Bray, who pressures him into being his emissary to purchase memories from his three children—their childhood memories that he missed out on. As Sol gets deeper into this family’s dynamic, he realises the degree of difficulty of this reconciliation is beyond his capability.
Publications
Fiction
‘The Everyman.’ (2018). Cheval 11. Parthian Books.
‘Zapatista.’ (2018). Construction Literary Magazine.
‘At the Door.’ (2019). Tales of Independence and Belonging. Parthian Books.
Nonfiction
‘Erika L Sanchez and the Poetry of Borders.’ (24 May, 2018). Wales Arts Review.
‘A History of Broken Rhetoric on Immigration.’ (8 August, 2018). Sojourners
‘South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission 20 Years Later.’ (12 October, 2018). Sojourners.
‘Book Review: The Line Becomes a River.’ (TBC). Journal of Borderlands Studies