Beyond

In this paper I am going to consider my journey from PhD to Senior Lecture in English and Creative Writing at the University of Northampton. This discussion is framed through a consideration of the notion of ‘beyond’. By this, I draw on my theoretical consideration of London literature at the millennium, which formed the basis of my PhD thesis, which reads contemporary literature beyond the limits of current understandings of postmodernism. Applying the notion of ‘beyond’ in a broader context, I also consider the impact of my research beyond the confines of writing a piece of research for the purposes of gaining a qualification, and how my work undertaken to do this is having an impact on current theoretical understandings of the topic and the teaching of contemporary literature. I hope to reflect on my journey in order to help current researchers to think beyond the task of completing a PhD and imagine where their research might take them by drawing on my own experience to offer advice as to how to engage in innovative research in order to make the next step beyond the PhD (life beyond the PhD does exist – I promise).