Resurrection Man

Heather Askwith

Heather Askwith is a new Creative Writing PhD student in the School of Culture, under the supervision of Dr Sarah Dobbs. She is writing a novel called Resurrection Man as part of her thesis, which seeks to explore fears around the body from the Victorian Era and the parallels between this and contemporary fears. The novel will be set in two time periods and seeks to evoke the style of these periods as an exploration of narratology. In parallel with the writing of the novel, Heather will research the connections between gothic Victorian writing, modern horror writing and self-reflexive styles. She is interested in the development of horror fiction in response to developments in science and medicine. Her thesis seeks to explore the presentation of fears surrounding the body both in Victorian Gothic literature, and in contemporary modern texts, also considering a feminist angle and the presentation of female bodies. 

Heather has been writing creatively for five years. Having completed her MA in Creative Writing at Northumbria University, she won the Northumbria Student and Alumni Award at this year’s Northern Writers’ Awards. Heather won for the opening to her young adult novel, The Death Clock, a horror story set within Jazz Age New York. As a result of her award, Heather was sent to meet with industry professionals in London and there met James Wills, agent from Watson, Little, who has since signed Heather as a client.