Mark Leahy

Biography

Mark Leahy is a writer, artist, teacher, and project manager operating among textual practices, performance, and page-based arts. Recent performance and live work includes Muster Page Habit 2 (The Cube, Bristol, and Plymouth Athenaeum, May 2013), Muster Page Habit (PW12, Bristol, May 2012), Hand in Glove at Tempting Failure (London, March 2012), Voice Recognition: A Play (Bluecoat, Liverpool, October 2011) and at BLOP12 (Arnolfini, Bristol, February 2012); and a reading at POLYply15: Colour (London, January 2012). He has written texts to accompany work by other artists, including Teresa Grimaldi's The Vacated Works(Isle of Wight, 2009), Katy Connor's Pure Flow(Exeter, 2009), Aftermath for Deirdre Power's project Brokenland(Limerick, Summer 2011), a text as part of Steven Paige's The Ties That Bind… (Exeter, January 2012), With Particular Attention: Martha Winter's material occurrences commissioned by Market Project (Apr 2012) and a contribution to Low Profile's book Here’s to Another 10(April 2013). Recent critical publications include essays in Open Letter, Performance Research Journaland The Journal of Writing in Creative Practice; a chapter in The Blackwell Companion to Digital Literary Studies (2007); an essay on John James and the visual arts in The Salt Companion to John James(2010), and a chapter on poetry and affect in The Life and Work of Thomas MacGreevy: A Critical Reappraisal(Susan Schreibman ed, Bloomsbury, June 2013). Swatches, a poetry sequence was published by Acts of Language (December 2009), and texts have appeared in UK and US journals, and online including Guaranteed Insurance for Mocksim's Yearly Print series. After Durer after Mantegna, an emblem combining text and image, was installed in the Window Work series at DXDX Studios, Plymouth (August 2011). Curated projects include Public Pages for the conference Poetry and Public Language (University of Plymouth, 2007). Mark was director of writing at Dartington College of Arts (2005-07), and was MA programme leader at Dartington Campus, University College Falmouth (2007-10). He teaches part time and supervises PhD students at Falmouth University, and works freelance as a writer and an arts project manager

Research Interest

Research interests and expertise My research interests include relations between poetry, performance and visual arts; issues around genre in visual and textual production and consumption; theoretical investigations of reading; digital and electronic literature; L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poetry and other contemporary poetries in English; practices in writing and performance; voice in theory and performance; and critical and theoretical writing on, and curation of, exhibitions and events around visual verbal relations. I am interested in supervising research relating to these areas. Research topics Contemporary Poetry Creative Writing Digital Performance and Literature Performance Practices Textual Practices