Get to Know the Team: Alex

Who are you?

My name is Alex, I am a final year PhD Candidate at the University of Liverpool, researching the influences of medieval culture on nineteenth-century Gothic literature. I know, it doesn’t seem particularly relevant to the project, really, does it? Thankfully, as a research assistant I get to use the skills I have gained as a PhD student for the advancement of the Forced Marriage project, rather than my incredibly niche knowledge, so I’m still rather useful. But if you want to know about my incredibly niche topic, please just ask! Please. Please.

I am constantly overdressed for every occasion (if I could live in Alexander McQueen’s Givenchy Blade Runner collection, I would), I am currently writing a Victorian eco-gothic novel, and I’ve even had short fiction published in the Gramarye and Gothic Nature journals.  Outside of my personal and professional obsession with books, I play the Celtic harp, practice yoga to stay sane, and I live with two grey cats who have pretentious names.

How did you get involved with the ‘Drawing On Forced Marriage’ project?

In the usual way – stars aligned! I was looking for work to help me keep body and soul together during the final year of my PhD, and when I saw the research assistant advertisement I was pretty keen. When I realised that it was for a project that deals with comics, I was delighted. I’d written on comics at undergrad and MA levels, and, in my misspent youth, I even attended art college with the dream of becoming an illustrator/comic artist. Thus, being able to synthesise my academic skills with a medium I am passionate about was thrilling.

What about the project excites you?

I am beyond excited to be part of a project that addresses real world issues in a practical and timely way. Globally, it’s a pretty scary time, and I am deeply concerned with the well-being of women and girls. It’s such a privilege, therefore, to be part of this vital project that doesn’t simply research the issue of forced marriage, but it has developed an innovative and proactive method through which forced marriage can be tackled. I’m so grateful to be part of it, and to get to work with such amazing women as a result.

When did you first become interested in comics?

When I was about eight years old, a librarian mis-shelved a graphic novel in the children’s book section. It was an understandable mistake: the story was about a group of toys that had come to life, and had to journey through the big bad city to return to their… maker? Owner? That part of my memory is fuzzy. But what I do remember is the horror. There were enemies, and hornets, and all the grime one expects from a city as depicted in a horror comic written for adults. It could have been a scarring experience. Perhaps it was, given that Gothic has become my specialisation. But either way, it was formative, because it gave me an early fascination with comic books. I dutifully but unenthusiastically dipped in and out of the expected canon (The Death of Superman was one such foray into the predictable), and, spooky brat that I was, I enjoyed creepier titles like Gloom Cookie and Lenore. But then, inevitably, I found it. Sandman by Neil Gaiman, with its exquisite cover art by Dave McKean. In reading that series I realised that comics can do more than just visually tell a story, and I was forever hooked.

What was the last comic you read, and did you enjoy it?

I am still that spooky brat, so I am currently reading Tomie by Junji Ito. It’s a Japanese horror comic/manga about a young woman who is murdered over and over again, and who keeps coming back for vengeance. I was hoping it would be a comment on violence against women, but so far it seems to just be an excuse to murder a girl and then blame her for forcing her murderer to do something so awful as kill her. To be fair, I’ve not read that much as yet, there is still time for it to do something remarkable, and I’m enjoying the aspects of Weird Fiction that it contains. I read on in hope.