Contact
Expertise Summary
BA (University of New Hampshire), MA (University of Delaware), MFA (Arizona State University), PhD (University of Nottingham)
Creative Writing: Fiction and Drama
Teaching Summary
In my teaching I am interested in helping students to produce fiction of all shapes and sizes. In particular I enjoy exploring the subtle but crucial use of narrative voice and distance in relation… read more
Research Summary
My creative work tends to draw from other disciplines, exploring the subjective underpinnings of apparently objective material.
My first novel, The Burning, features characters whose personal activities, including sexual intrigues and visits to Las Vegas casinos, are inextricable from their discoveries in the fields of economics, ecology, and astrophysics.
My play, Half Life (http://nva.org.uk/artwork/half-life/) was an entirely different sort of project -- an immersive, site-specific performance which took place on the west coast of Scotland as part of NVA's landscape installation -- yet its dramatic technique was derived from the methods of archaeology as well as general relativity and cosmology.
Continuing in this vein, my second novel, Keeping Time, involves a blend of geology, archaeology, music, and time travel, as it involves an archaeologist who travels back in time and has an affair with his wife -- or perhaps a musician having an affair with her husband.
My most recent novel, Spring Fever, is a quantum romantic techno-thriller with a literary sensibility. It features a young woman working for a digital media company, an ice hockey player who talks like a Continental philosopher, and a global virus that affects humans and computers in disturbing ways.
I have also written articles on interdisciplinary topics, critical essays, reviews, and stories ranging in length from 200 to over 7000 words. In addition I have explored storytelling in other media, as reflected in short videos I call fiction flicks, along with 'Dream Repair,' a radio drama broadcast on BBC4.
For more detail, visit my website https://www.thomaslegendre.com
In my teaching I am interested in helping students to produce fiction of all shapes and sizes. In particular I enjoy exploring the subtle but crucial use of narrative voice and distance in relation to point-of-view, the self-generated structures of narrative, and the unexpected renderings of character, dialogue, setting, and plot that lead to engaging stories and novels.
Undergraduate modules taught
Academic Community
Creative Writing Practice
Fiction: Forms and Conventions
Advanced Writing Practice
Creative Writing Dissertation
Postgraduate Modules Taught
Creative Writing Conventions and Techniques
Writing Workshop: Fiction
Master's Dissertation