Agata Handley (Dr) is Assistant Professor in the Institute of English Studies at the University of Łódź. She works in the Department of British Literature and Culture. Her main areas of academic interest are: contemporary British poetry; the culture of the English North; and a special focus on memory studies and intermedial issues. From 2011 she has been a member of the Editorial Team of Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture . Her book Constructing Identity: Continuity, Otherness and Revolt in the Poetry of Tony Harrison was published in 2016 by Peter Lang Publishing (a revised and extended second edition is due to appear in 2021). She has also written articles on, and taken part in several projects concerned with, different aspects of European culture. She teaches British Literature, British Culture and Academic Writing, and is interested in innovative teaching methodologies, including project-based learning and the “Mantle of the Expert” teaching method, which utilises drama and theatre techniques in the learning/teaching process. Her current research concerns contemporary ekphrasis in anglophone literature and culture, and intertextuality in music video.

Udział w projektach (od 2014)/ Project participation (after 2014)

Wielka Wojna: W Rocznicę Wybuchu: Projekt Fundacji Współpracy Polsko Niemieckiej (The Great War: On the Anniversary of the Commencement of War: The Project of the Foundation for Polish-Austrian Cooperation) 00488/2014/TM. Role: wykonawca/ research team member 2014-16.

Heritage, Community Traditions, and Identity in Birmingham (Lost Communities History Project) Funded by Heritage Lottery Fund. Partners: Newman University, George Dixon Academy, Calthorpe School, Al Hijrah School, Perry Beeches Academy II, Kingshurst Academy; Project Number: YR-15-03890. Role: consultant, 2015-17.

Developing Innovative Teaching Strategies to Improve Entrepreneurial Skills and Enhance Performance of Disadvantaged Learners and Facilitate Integration in Schools (Mantle of the Expert Method Project), ERASMUS + Project Number: 2016-1-UK01-KA201-024591. Role: project liaison and events organiser, 2016-18.

Developing Entrepreneurial Education: The “Commission” Model of Education. Associate Partner: University of Lodz; ERASMUS + Project Number: 209-1-UK01-KA201-062133. Role: project coordinator, 2019-21.

Word, Sound and Image: Intertextuality in Music Videos Project Number: 2019/33/B/HS2/00131 Leader: University of Lodz; financed by National Science Centre in Poland. Role: wykonawca/ research team member, 2020-22/23

Developing Entrepreneurial and Digital Education: The ‘Rolling Role’ Model of Teaching. Full Partner: University of Lodz; ERASMUS + Project Number: 2020-1-UK201-079074. Role: project coordinator, 2020-22/23

Współorganizacja konferencji/ Conference Co-organization

8.10.2021 – 10.10. 2021 Dorothy Heathcote Now Conference 2021, Birmingham City University, The University of Lodz (Birmingham, UK and online).

11.11.2022-13.11.2022 Dorothy Heathcote Now Conference 2022; Organizers: University College London, The University of Lodz; (London, UK and online)

Inne/Other:

Visiting Scholar at Newman University, Birmingham, UK. September 2017-June 2018.

Wybrane publikacje (od 2016)/ Selected Publications (after 2016)

Książki/ Books

1. Constructing Identity: Continuity, Otherness and Revolt in the Poetry of Tony Harrison. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2016.
2. Constructing Identity in the Poetry of Tony Harrison (Revised and Expanded Edition) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2021.

Wybrane Artykuły i Rozdziały w Monografiach/ Selected Articles and Book Chapters

1. “On (Not) Being Milton: Tony Harrison’s Liminal Voice.” Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture 6 (2016): p. 276-90.
2. “The Wasteland: An Analysis of the Poem’s Title.” Old Masters in New Interpretations: Readings in Literature and Visual Culture. Ed. Anna Kwiatkowska. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016.
3. “Strange Meetings: The War Poetry of Tony Harrison and Wilfred Owen.” Beyond the Trenches: The Social and Cultural Impact of the Great War. Ed. Elżbieta Katarzyna Dzikowska, Agata G. Handley and Piotr Zawilski. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2017, p. 75-89.
4. (co-author David Allen). “Being Human: Edward Bond’s Theories of Drama.” Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture 7 (2017): 307-29.
5. “Conjuring Ghosts of the Past: Landscapes and Hauntings in Jane Urquhart’s The Stone Carvers.” London Journal of Canadian Studies2 (2018): p. 5-21.
6. “Human Metronome: Nostalgia and Mourning in Tony Harrison’s Work.” Once Upon a Time: Nostalgic Narratives in Transition. Ed. Niklas Salmose and Eric Sandberg. Stockholm: Trolltrumma Academia, 2018, p. 41-54.
7. (co-author: David Allen). “The Most Photographed Barn in America: Simulacra of the Sublime in American Art and Photography.” Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture 8 (2018): p. 365-85.
8. “‘But what a place / to put a piano’: Nostalgic Objects in Robert Minhinnick’s Diary of the Last Man.” Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture 9 (2019): p. 331-44.
9. “The Unflinching Gaze: The Representation of Suffering in Tony Harrison’s Film Poetry.” Transmediation: Communication Across Media Borders. Ed. Niklas Salmose and Lars Elleström. Routledge, 2020, p. 77-96.
10. “Representing Absence: Contemporary Ekphrasis in ‘Apesh-t’” Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture 8 (2020): p. 119-134.
11. “’Mimmo Perella Is No More:’ Cadaveric Imagery and Poetic Verse in Tony Harrison’s Film-Poem.” Literature and Media: Productive Intersections. Ed. Magdalena Cieślak and Michał Lachman. Peter Lang Publishing Group, 2021, p.81-96.
12. “The Poet as Public Intellectual: Tony Harrison’s War.” British Journal of Educational Studies, 70:5 (2022): p. 627-645.
13. (co-author: David Allen) “Ekphrasis in Disneyland: The Alice in Wonderland Ride (1958).” Discourses on Culture, 19:1 (2023): p.131-154.