University of Stirling

Sources and Silences: A Feminist Creative Intervention in Historical Crime Fiction

Academic History:

2015 - 2016: MLitt (Applied) in Gender Studies at University of Stirling (Distinction)

2012: MEd Community Learning and Development at University of Glasgow (Merit)

1995 - 1997: BA Hons (First Class) Financial Services

Supervisors:

Dr Liam Bell

Professor Karen Boyle

Research Interests:

• Creative writing
• Gender
• Feminism
• Historical fiction
• Crime fiction
• Novellas
• Violence against women

I am researching the extent to which a piece of creative writing can be used to reimagine and re-tell the stories of invisible women, particularly as related to the Historical Crime Fiction genre. Investigating historical instances of male violence against women, source materials which record women's lives in the period in question, and the writing process as it relates to contemporary writers of Historical Crime Fiction, this is a practice-based research project which combines research into Gender Studies and Creative Writing. As part of this, I am writing three interlinked novellas using a Scottish context to engage with feminism and Historical Crime Fiction.

Previous Research Projects:

My Masters Dissertation: ‘The Toxic Tale of Emerald Green and The Factory Girl: The position of women factory workers in the mid-nineteenth century and their portrayal in the literature of the period’ was a critical and creative, practise-based dissertation. Through analysis of primary sources and secondary literature, the critical research element considered the economic and social positions of women factory workers in the mid-nineteenth century, particularly in relation to the ‘Dangerous Trades’. It also considered their portrayal in the fiction of the period in order to ask whether this fiction included some of the poorest and most marginalised women in society. The aim of this critical research was to develop and inform the creative element of the dissertation - a present day re-imagining of the experience of mid-nineteenth century women factory workers, giving a voice to ‘invisible’ women. The outcome was a story about a young woman in Glasgow working in one of the Dangerous Trades – specifically making decorations for hats in a factory which used arsenic.

Scholarships:

• SGSAH AHRC Funding
• University of Stirling Postgraduate Merit Scholarship

Awards:

• Go to Helena Handbasket (2006) - Lefty Award (US award)
• Old Dogs (2010) - nominated for Lefty and Last Laugh awards

Publications:

• Old Dogs (MaXcrime, 2010 (UK), Busted Flush Press, 2010 (US))
• ...Go To Helena Handbasket (Point Blank Press, 2006)

Short Stories:

• Daylight Robbery – (Forthcoming) 10 Year Stretch: Celebrating A Decade of Crime Fiction at CrimeFest (No Exit Press, 2018)
• Over The Sea – (Forthcoming) Stirling in 50 Objects (2017/18)
• The Mouse’s Umbrella – 21 Revolutions (Glasgow Women’s Library, 2014)
• Depravity Lane – Short Stack (Pulp Press, Winter 2011)
• Mondays and Thursdays – Discount Noir (Untreed Reads, 2010)
• Things Can Only Get Better – (Pulp Pusher, 2009)
• Bumping Uglies – Hell of A Woman (Busted Flush Press, 2007 (US) Best British Mysteries, 2008 (UK))
• Pros and Cons – Damn Near Dead (Busted Flush Press, 2006 (US) Best British Mysteries,  2007 (UK))

Contact Details:

Email: d.e.moore1@stir.ac.uk

First published: 25 September 2017