DrJoanneBenford

Author Profile Joanne Benford Author website www.JoanneBenford.piczo.com Email DrJoanneBenford@yahoo.co.uk Joanne was born and brought up in Hartlepool in 1971 where she now lives. Her life has been marked by variety, travelling the cradles of civilisation, being a one-time singer, pianist, artist, librarian and all-round seeker. She started writing professionally aged 20, and now regularly writes for several magazines. Her first book, Down By The Water, was shortlisted for the Raymond Williams Publishing Prize. She graduated from Lancaster University with a BA Hons and Masters degree in Literary Studies and completed her PhD thesis at Sunderland University. Areas of research concentrate mainly on popular culture and include articles on many films, television programmes and cultural theories, and have been published in a variety of magazines, including The Idler, Towards 2012, Cracked Mirror, Diva, Talking Stick and The Edge. Joanne also regularly writes features and articles for magazines such as Woman’s Own, People’s Friend and Best, where her short stories can also be found. She has broadcast on TV and radio, and published criticism and journalism, poetry and short stories in numerous anthologies and magazines. She is currently completing her seventh novel, and is Creative Writing lecturer for the Open University, as well as Learning Centre Manager for the Da Vinci Centre in Hartlepool. PUBLICATIONS Dr Joanne Benford Non-Fiction Sing of the City Electric This book focuses on ideas of fragmentation, the death of the subject and the search for authenticity, with a discussion of the mechanisation of the body and ideas of the psyche as constituted by popular or image culture. ‘A dazzling knowledge of architecture, literature, film and critical theory, leaving you feeling educated, but not exhausted.’ amazon.co.uk New edition, reprinted July 2008. ISBN 1 900701 162 / 978 1 900701 167 Through The Screen Wildly: The Aesthetic of the Sublime Wilderness - Towards a Postmodern Wildzone Within this work I explore the dialogues that take place between science fiction and the postmodern world, and what effects these have had on identity. Published by Moog Enterprises Reprinted 2001, 2005, New edition 2008 ISBN 978- 1-900701-20-4 Living Doll: The Seduction of the Cyborg Predominant in postmodern theories of representation are approaches and practices that locate 'the body' within systematised networks and circuits. Published by Moog Enterprises 2008 ISBN 978-1-9007-0121-1 Postmodern Aesthetics and Poetics The concept of the postmodern is one fraught with the problems of definition, of choosing and using names. It is not enough to talk only of the postmodern: first one has to say which postmodern is being referred to. Published by Moog Enterprises 2008 ISBN 978-1-900701-23-5 Postmodern Feminist Fantasy This study looks at the issues of feminism with regard to poststructuralism and postmodernism. This leads to a discussion of androgyny and fantasy in women's writing, and how male writers can gain access to the wildzone through strategies of postmodern and fantasy writing techniques. Published by Moog Enterprises 2008 ISBN 978-1-900701-22-8 The Organised Writer’s Yearbook Tired of piles of paper and scraps covering your desk? Can’t see your diary for sticky notes? Sure you’d get more done if you could just get it all sorted out? This is THE BOOK for any aspiring or professional writer. Inside you’ll find • Monthly planners to help you keep deadlines • Detailed charts to track your submissions • Reading lists • Website lists • Project development grids • To Do lists • Pages of prompts for each month to combat the dreaded writer’s block! Get organised, and give your writing a kick start this year! Published by Moog Enterprises 2008 ISBN 978 1 900701 242 1900701243 Poetry The Music of the Spheres That star upon the serpent’s head Is called the soul of man…’ A collection of poetry with original illustrations inspired by the planets and the mythology and magic connected with them. Published 1996 by Moog Enterprises New edition, reprinted July 2008. ISBN 1 900701 09X / 978 1 900701 099 Loving One Loving longs for His delightful oblivion… One big passionate angel is like his celebration. It takes to dreams. A miniature art book containing a single extended poem, and featuring the prize winning ‘Heart’ poem. ‘Truly beautiful and inspiring ‘amazon.co.uk ‘A beautiful item - almost an 'art book' - an artefact in itself. ‘amazon.co.uk Published 1996 by Moog Enterprises New edition, reprinted July 2008. ISBN 1 900701 154 / 978 1 900701 150 Fiction Café Ultima A few scenes from the place that’s open twenty-four hours serving coffee, tea, soft drinks and a range of hot snacks in a traditional environment. All major credit cards accepted. And then there was the time when the café was in a rough area… ‘A romp through the lives of various members of cafe society... violent moments, but strangely poetic in tone.’ amazon.co.uk Published 2000 Moog Enterprises New edition, reprinted July 2008. ISBN 1 900701 170 / 978 1 900701 174 Silence and Tears In secret we met, in silence I grieve That thy heart could forget, thy spirit deceive. If I should meet thee, after long years, How should I greet thee? With silence and tears. ~Lord Byron~ During the summer of 1831, in a market town in North East England. George Neilsen, a handsome young innkeeper, is longing for a way out of his humdrum world. He meets the enigmatic Sir Bernard Sanderson and his beautiful wife, Julia. What follows is a tale of adventure and misadventures, doubts and truths, secrets and lies, silence and tears, spanning a whole lifetime. Published by Moog Enterprises July 2008. ISBN 1 900701 197 / 978 1 900701 198 The Ring of Elements Set Down By The Water ‘The bridge hums broken tunes under its breath… Whispered in my submerged ear and I, breathing and floating, am now with the ocean’s force.’ ‘Lanterns go bobbing along the shore, wild music skirls across the moonlit waters… music to scorch the blood to passionheat.’ This is the first in a series of four books, together comprising the ‘Ring of Elements’ set, and is composed of lyrical stories, poems and artwork, linked by the sea, the river and those that inhabit them. ‘A fantastic read, crammed full of beautiful language, similar to Dylan Thomas, perhaps, or GM Hopkins. Also beautiful illustrations by the author herself.’ amazon.co.uk ‘An avant-garde novel, comprising story chapters interspersed with some poems. These poems form the inner monologues of the main characters, including the heroine, drowned by her lover, and haunting his descendants.’ amazon.co.uk New edition, reprinted July 2008. ISBN 1 900701 111 / 978 1 900701 112 Coming Up For Air ‘There are things we should say, things we should not. And there are things we want to say but have never learned how.’ ‘I heard the cry of the driven clouds, and the awful shout of the pursuers mingled with the clamouring and thudding of the endless companies that hurried across the width of heaven.’ New edition, reprinted July 2008. ISBN 1 900701 12X / 978 1 900701 129 Fanning the Flames ‘Memory keeps delivering the past in brown paper parcels done up with tangled string…’ ‘Out of the fiery furnace crept our newborn son, half golden with freckles of rust and a scent of something newly opened upon the world.’ New edition, reprinted July 2008. ISBN 1 900701 138 / 978 1 900701 136 Scorched Earth ‘I want to hear this soft damp night breathing.’ ‘We only know the sudden shadow-cold… black with coal, and the long tunnels of the afternoons pelting into the future like stones lobbed by bullies at our faces.’ ‘Wow … making a huge mythology if you immerse yourself in them all. Thanks for the dreaming!’ amazon.co.uk New edition, reprinted July 2008. ISBN 1 900701 146 / 978 1 900701 143 The Ring of Elements New edition, reprinted July 2008. ISBN 1 900701 189 / 978 1 900701 181