Postdoctoral Researcher, British Spoken Word Poetry

Postdoctoral Researcher for ERC Project “Poetry Off the Page: Literary History and the Spoken Word, 1965-2020”

15 months, Fixed-Term, 35h/week.

Start: 6 Nov 2023 

“Poetry Off the Page: Literary History and the Spoken Word, 1965-2020” is a five-year project at the University of Vienna that focuses on British and Irish spoken-word poetry. It investigates the significance of poetry performance to recent literary history, taking account of the aesthetic and political potential of oral performance in conjunction with the alternative institutional structures, publication channels, career pathways, presentational formats, styles, and poetic genres that have emerged from its dynamic performance scenes. 

For more information, see www.poetryoffthepage.net . 

We are currently looking for a 

Postdoctoral Researcher, British Spoken Word Poetry 

Job description:

The new postdoc will hopefully be present at our November conference and co-edit the journal issue arising from it. They will present at international conferences, be in charge of an annotated bibliography online and

of the project blog; they will interview practitioners (at least 5); write for the project blog (at least 1 entry – up to 3,000 words); write one book chapter on the history of British Spoken Word Poetry; produce 1 podcast; and take on minor administrative tasks. 

This position is based at the English Department, University of Vienna, with possible travel to the UK and conference travel. We will have a weekly jour fixe in Vienna to monitor progress and enable a regular exchange of ideas. With over 3000 active students, the University of Vienna’s Department of English and American Studies is one of the largest in Europe. It is situated on a green, car-free campus, not far from the U2 underground line and about a 15-minute walk from the city centre. In the 2022 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, Arts & Humanities at Vienna University were ranked in 38th position.

The city of Vienna is culturally vibrant while still affordable, with a sizable expat community and a fantastic public transport system. In Mercer’s quality of living city ranking , Vienna was ranked no. 1 – of over 200 cities worldwide – for 10 consecutive years. 

Required Qualifications:

• PhD in British or Anglophone Literary or Cultural Studies or a related discipline
• Expertise in (British) Poetry/Performing Arts
• Excellent command of written and spoken English
• IT user skills
• Ability to work in a team, and to deadlines

The following additional qualifications would be desirable:

• Expertise in Postcolonial Criticism/Black British Literature/British-Asian Literature
• Interest in (Literary) Gender Studies
• International research experience
• Experience in presenting at international conferences
• Experience in editing audio and video files.

How to apply:

The official job advert can be found under reference number 1355 in the University of Vienna’s Job Centre, by clicking the 'Apply' button. This is also where you should submit your application. 

Application documents

Font size: 11pt (minimum)
Language: English
Format: pdf

• Academic curriculum vitae in 1 page, including date of PhD completion and list of up to 5 relevant publications
• Letter of motivation, max. 400 words
• Full academic CV
• Full list of publications
• Relevant certificates/diplomas
• Two scholarly articles or selected dissertation chapters (in one pdf, with bookmarks)
• Contact details of 2 potential referees

(Closing: 12 AM 10 Oct 2023 GMT+2; Notifications: 13 Oct 2023; Zoom interviews: 20 Oct 2023)