Dr Elizabeth Hale
Associate Professor, English Literary Studies - Faculty of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences and Education; School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
Biography
I come from Dunedin, in the South Island of New Zealand, where I studied English Literature and Latin at the University of Otago. I then studied as a Fulbright Scholar at Brandeis University, gaining MA and PhD in English and American Literature. I have a special interest in creative approaches to the study of literature, and teach and research in topics in children’s literature and media, fantasy literature, and nineteenth-century literature.
Qualifications
BA Honours (1st Class) in English Literature and Latin, University of Otago; MA, PhD in English Literature, Brandeis University.
Teaching Areas
- Children's Literature
- Fantasy Literature
- Children's Media
- Creative Writing
- Nineteenth-Century Literature
Primary Research Area/s
Nineteenth-century fiction; Chiildren's Fiction; Classical Reception; Young Adult Literature; Genre StudiesResearch Interests
Since October 2016 I have been leading the Australasian Wing of Our Mythical Childhood, an international project funded by the European Research Council (grant agreement: 681202). (It is led overall by Prof. Katarzyna Marciniak, University of Warsaw, and involving scholars from Poland, the United Kingdom, Israel and Cameroon, and of course Australia) Our Mythical Childhood expands the knowledge of the way children’s literature transmits information about classical antiquity. More information can be found on my website: https://antipodeanodyssey.wordpress.com/
Research Supervision Experience
I have supervised a number of research theses, in the areas of literary studies, children’s literature and media.
Publications
Books
Maurice Gee: A Literary Companion. The Fiction for Young Readers. Edited, Elizabeth Hale. Otago University Press, 2014.
Marvellous Codes: The Fiction of Margaret Mahy. Edited, Elizabeth Hale and Sarah Fiona Winters. Victoria University Press, 2005.
Selected Chapters and Journal Articles
“Mosaic and Cornucopia: Fairy Tale and Myth in Contemporary Australian YA Fantasy,” with Sophie Masson. Bookbird: A Journal of International Children’s Literature. 2016. 54 (3) 44-53.
“Katabasis Down Under in the Novels of Margaret Mahy and Maurice Gee,” Our Mythical Childhoods, Ed. Katarzyna Marciniak, Brill Publishers, 2015: 163-169.
“Reading Animals in Margaret Mahy’s Poems, Picture Books and Stories for Younger Readers.” The Lion and the Unicorn, 39 (2) (April 2015), 186-203.
"Classics, Children’s Literature and the Character of Childhood, from Tom Brown’s Schooldays to The Enchanted Castle". In Lisa Maurice, Ed. The Reception of Ancient Greece and Rome in Children’s Literature. Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2015, 17-29
"Childhood and the Environment in The Little Prince." (Co-authored with Michael Fox.) Dalhousie Review, 93 (2013): 289-303.
“Disability and the Individual Talent: Adolescent Girlhood in The Pillars of the House and What Katy Did “ in Charlotte Yonge: Rereading Domestic Religious Fiction. Ed. Tamara Wagner. Routledge, 2012.
“Truth and Claw: The Beastly Children and Childlike Beasts of Saki, Beatrix Potter, and Kenneth Grahame.” Worlds Enough and Time: Childhood in Edwardian Fiction. Eds. Adrienne E. Gavin and Andrew F. Humphries. Palgrave Macmillan December 2008. 191-207.
"James Bond and the Art of Eating Eggs" Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture. December 2012.
"The Women of Troy: Barrie Kosky, The Sydney Theatre Company, and Classical Theatre in Australia." Didaskalia: The Journal for Ancient Performance. 2011.
“Disability and the Individual Talent: Adolescent Girlhood in The Pillars of the House and What Katy Did.” Women’s Writing 17 (2) (August 2010): 343-360.
“The Case of Mr. Casaubon: Gothic Monstrosity in Middlemarch in Demons of the Body and Mind: Essays on Disability in Gothic Literature". Ruth Anolik, Ed. Jefferson: North Carolina: McFarland and Company, Inc. (2010)
“Sickly Scholars and Healthy Novels: The Classical Scholar in Victorian Fiction.” International Journal of the Classical Tradition (June 2010)
"The Pursuit of Youth: Adolescence, Seduction, and the Pastoral in Act One of The Lost Echo.” Australasian Drama Studies 56 (April, 2010) 117-130.
“Truth-telling Englishmen: Classics as a Test of Character in Victorian School Stories”. New Voices in Classical Reception Studies. Spring 2008.
“Underworlds Down Under: The Navigator and Under the Mountain.” Gothic NZ. Eds. Jennifer Lawn and Misha Kavka. Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago Press, 2006. 101-111.
“Long-Suffering Professional Females: The Case of Nanny-Lit.” Chick Lit: The New Woman’s Fiction. Eds. Mallory Young and Suzanne Ferriss. New York: Routledge, 2005.
Memberships
In 2011, I was awarded an Australian Learning and Teaching Citation for my work developing a sustained program of teaching that unites critical and creative approaches to literature.
From 2010-2014, I was the Director of the UNE Writers and Illustrators in Residence Program, a program of visiting writers and illustrators in children's literature, funded by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund. For more information, please see:
