Dr Matthew Cheeseman

About

I am a writer, researcher and teacher. I work across fiction and non-fiction, often in collaboration with artists and designers in the creation and publication of books, pamphlets and other things. At the University of Derby, I am an Associate Professor of Creative Writing.

Teaching responsibilities

For the MA Creative Writing, I am the Module Leader for:

7CW999 Independent project

I also teach on:

7CW502 Writing apprenticeship

For the BA Creative Writing and Publishing, I am the Module Leader for:

6CW511 Self-publishing

I also teach on:

6PU507 Independent study in writing and publishing

Professional interests

I run Spirit Duplicator, a small press dedicated to publishing poetry, fiction and theory in attractive editions. It was founded in 2015 and named after an old copier that was printed in purple ink that (allegedly) caused intoxication when inhaled. The press owns a spirit duplicator (a Roneo Model 50) but most of the pamphlets and books are produced using digital or risograph.

I am one of the editors of the Journal of Imaginary Research. The journal publishes fictional research abstracts and imaginary researchers. They are constructed by real academic staff, research staff, and research students every November in Global Academic Writing Month.

Research interests

I am research active in four areas. I supervise two PhD students and am accepting more. My research areas are:

Visual and material culture of writing

I am interested in the impact of design on both composition and the organisation of text. This emerged from my collaboration with the Swiss designers Go! Grafik in producing three editions of the creative writing journal Route 57. This led to the founding of the small press Spirit Duplicator. Our production processes often privilege design in the writing process. So far, we have published 20 books, which has led me to think about and experiment with technologies such as the Roneo Duplicators and Gestetner Mimeographs.

Co-production and interdisciplinary research

I work with and through creative and critical writing, performance and visual arts to answer interdisciplinary research questions or explore an area of research interest.

Some of my work in this area is focused on the medical humanities. As a member of Phoenix, I developed comics for use by cancer survivors in navigating their sex lives post chemotherapy. This work led me into becoming a core network member of the AHRC Videogame Network focusing on the development of games and apps in aiding the play of children in hospital.

I also led another network for the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Translating Performance, which focused on understanding asylum seeker and refugee performances in Sheffield.

The cultural development of neoliberalism

Much of my creative practice in fiction is focused on exploring contemporary capitalism. I am interested in diverse things, the body, the night-time economy, digitality and notions of the past and the future. I have published on Star Trek's Spock, using the 'reboot' as a means of understanding the mind.

My public engagement work, especially with the Showroom cinema and with music culture in Sheffield, has developed my thinking and publications in this area. In so doing, I have staged two major exhibitions and many performances, some of them on the first site of Western Works, Cabaret Voltaire's studio in Sheffield.

Higher education

I am interested in radical education, youth, protest and the student experience both in fiction (campus/varsity novels) and in the higher education (HE) sector today. I have done much work via the Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) on a national level organising and commenting on the experience of higher education by students.

I am particularly interested in the monetisation of education, protest and the role higher education institutions have in the widest definition of student experience. This experience encompasses the night-time economy, the business of pleasure and student culture.

Where and how can resistance and critical thinking be fostered and political engagement encouraged? How can student experience be represented in texts? I am especially interested in lad culture and masculinity, youth and banter, chants and blason populaire (the use of stereotypes) and has published in all these areas.

Membership of professional bodies

Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP), 2019
American Folklore Society, 2018
National Association of Writers in Education, 2017
Senior Fellow of Higher Education Academy (HEA), 2016
Council for Academic Freedom and Academic Standards, 2007
The Folklore Society, 2005, Committee Member 2013–
HC, Cambridge, 1998

Qualifications

BA (Hons) History, University of Cambridge, 1999
MSc by Research in Health, University of Gloucestershire, 2009
PhD in English (Cultural Tradition), NATCECT, University of Sheffield, 2011
Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching, University of Sheffield, 2015

Recent conferences

2019

‘Dracula’s fangs’ at Folklore on Screen, 13–14 September, Sheffield Hallam University
‘Public engagement, research impact and some awkward places I have found myself in' at East Midlands Doctoral Network Conference, Sep 2019, University of Derby
'Graphic medicine and impact' at Queerying Graphic Medicine—Paradigms, Power and Practices, July 2019, University of Sussex
‘Q:—? A:—. Q:—?’ at Great Writing, July 2019, Imperial College London
‘Not the path’, part of the panel ‘When walking and writing merge—exploring the potentials and limits of ethnographic writing’ at Ethnography with a Twist, February 2019, University of Jyväskylä

2018

'Dictionary of neoliberal terms' at Great Writing, Imperial College London
'Friday drinks' at Working life: belief, custom, ritual, narrative: The Folklore Society Annual Conference, Museum of English Rural Life, University of Reading
'How to win at being a student', Identity, Community and Social Solidarity: BSA Annual Conference, April 2018, Northumbria University

2017

'Absent pilot' at Edge Poetics, a Symposium on innovative and speculative creative writing practices in Higher Education, University of Bedford
'Like a ghost out of nowhere' at Multi-voices in Research: Co-Interpreting Art and Architecture, East Street Arts, Leeds
'Writing, print and the mimeograph' at Great Writing conference, Imperial College, London
'The liminoid and the student experience of Higher Education' at Folklore from the cradle to the grave: The Folklore Society Annual Conference, Edinburgh
'Case study' at The Experience of AHRC-funded Early Career Researchers in Themes and Programmes, AHRC, hosted by Birmingham City University

2016

'Spock, neoliberalism and one other alien' at The Anti-University Festival, London
‘Reading Heidegger and watching porn’ at Workshop: Themes From Heidegger, University of Leeds
Roundtable in Humanities and Beyond: Exploring the Frontiers of Interdisciplinarity, University of York
The sting of intoxication at Fluid Physicalities, Birkbeck, University of London

Experience in industry

I am a Trustee of Bloc Projects, the contemporary art gallery in Sheffield.

My essay-based creative practice has resulted in commissions for a number of creative artists, such as Matt Stokes for a show at Site Gallery in Sheffield and Florian Roithmayr, to accompany shows in Brussels, Sheffield and London.

For three years, I was on the panel of judges for a national book award.

International experience

My press, Spirit Duplicator, operates between the USA, the UK and Switzerland. I have recently produced books for Theatrum Mundi, which launched at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

I co-convened the Student Experience Network for the SRHE for five years.

I have given many papers at international conferences and seminars. I was invited to lecture at the University of Tartu in Estonia.

I am a Mentor on MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts and Writing at California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, USA.

Additional interests and activities

I collect records and books!

Recent publications

Books

Cheeseman, M. (editor) (2017) On the water, Southampton: Solent Press, 128 pages
Cheeseman, M. (editor) (2017) Route 57 Issue 13: Don’t add up, London: Spirit Duplicator, 234 pages
Cheeseman, M. (editor) (2016) Atlantis, London: Spirit Duplicator, 45 page risograph print
Cheeseman, M. (editor) (2016) Route 57 Issue 12: If Anything Younger, London: Spirit Duplicator, 234 pages
Cheeseman, M. and Piette, A. (volume eds.) (2015) Route 57 Issue 11: The Feisty Font Review, London: NATCECT, 234 pages
Cheeseman, M. (ed.) (2014) NO PICNIC: Explorations in art and research, London: NATCECT & AND Publishing, 108 pages

Chapters—in Print

Cheeseman, M et al (2020) ‘Ramblings: A Walk in Progress (Or the Minutes of The International Society of The Imaginary Perambulator)’ in Lähdesmäki et al (eds) Challenges and Solutions in Ethnographic Research: Ethnography with a Twist, London: Routledge
Cheeseman, M (2019) 'Dracula’s fangs' in The Derby Critical Edition of Dracula Derby: Peregrine.
Cheeseman, M (2018) 'Bruno Schulz' in Wretched strangers: transnational poetries edited by Ágnes Lehóczky and JT Welsch, Norwich: Boiler House Press
Cheeseman, M (2018) 'Like a ghost out of nowhere' in Multivoices in research: a script by researchers, London: Sprit Duplicator
Cheeseman, M and Forrest, D. (2018) ‘The narrative nightclub: British cinema and the dance floor’ in Bentley, N, Johnson, B and Zieleniec, A (eds) Youth subcultures in fiction, film and other media: teenage dreams, Palgrave Studies in the History of Subcultures and Popular Music, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Cheeseman, M (2018) ‘How to win at being a student’ in Higher education and social inequalities: university admissions, experiences and outcomes edited by Waller, R, Ingram, N and Ward, MRM, London: Routledge
Cheeseman, M (2018) 'On going out and the experience of students' in Students in Britain and Ireland, edited by Burkett, J, London: Palgrave Macmillan
Cheeseman, M. (2017) ‘Techniques to encourage early and frequent writing’ in Daley, R., Guccione, K., Hutchinson, S. and Wilkinson, J. (eds.) 53 Ways to Enhance Researcher Development, Newmarket: Frontinus
Cheeseman, M. (2015) ‘Who groks Spock? Emotion in the neoliberal market’ in Resist! Against a precarious future, edited by Ray Filar, London: Lawrence and Wishart, p. 134–141
Cheeseman, M. (2014) 'Popular music and the breast' in Cultural Encyclopaedia of the Breast, edited by Smith, M., New York: Rowman & Littlefield, p. 174–176
Cheeseman, M. (2012) 'In the Dead of the Night' in Radical Futures 2, edited by Coatman, C. and Shrubsole, G., London: Lawrence and Wishart (in association with Soundings Journal)

Refereed Journals—in Print

Hammond, N., Cheeseman, M., Chantry, A. and Peng, A. (2015) ‘Visual methods, surviving cancer and sexuality: a reflection on negotiating ethical issues and developing academic/artistic partnerships’ in Journal of Families, Relationships and Societies 4 (3), p. 483–492
Cheeseman, M. (2014) '360° Answers in (Re)Presenting the Archive,' edited by Faulkner, M., Regis, A., Rhatigan, E. and Williams, G., Archive Journal Issue 4: Publishing The Archive. Available at: http://www.archivejournal.net/issue/4/ [Last accessed 14/07/14]
Cheeseman, M. (2011) 'We will not disrupt your education' in Roundhouse Journal, No. 2, 'Reimagining the University', p. 10–11
Cheeseman, M. (2008) 'The impact of a 24 hour library on the student experience at the University of Sheffield' in Anthropopages, No. 7–8, Groupe de Recherches et d'Actions en Ethnologie et en Anthropologie, p. 125–137

Non-refereed abstracts, reports & other publications

Cheeseman, M (2020) ‘This won’t happen’ in Hartley, A and James, T (eds) The Clearing: a report from the future, London: Tom James, 66–7. Available from: http://the-clearing.info/journal/a-report-from-the-future/ (Last accessed: 17/6/20)
Cheeseman, M (2020) ‘Foreword’ in Lesser Spotted Folk Devils, Nottingham: Spectral
Cheeseman, M (2017) Rachel Heller: pastels and other works, Cork: Doswell Gallery
Cheeseman, M. (2016) ‘Introduction’ in The Art of Rachel Heller, London: Flowers
Cheeseman, M. (2015) ‘Eggheads’, article on Open Democracy, published on 14/12/2015. URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourbeeb/matthew-cheeseman/eggheads [Accessed on 20/03/2016]
Cheeseman, M. (2015) Florian Roithmayr, the authority of other scientists, Brussels: MOTINTERNATIONAL and Sheffield: Site
Cheeseman, M. (2014) In Absence Of The Smoky God, Sheffield: Site
Cheeseman, M., Hammond, N., Chantry, A. and Peng, A. (eds.) (2014) Phoenix Project: Surviving Cancer, Sheffield: NATCECT
Cheeseman, M. (2013) 'Testing Ground' in Furnace Park, edited by Amanda Crawley Jackson, Sheffield: PlastiCities.
Cheeseman, M. (2013) Noise And Dissonance, Tract Issue 2, published by Article and PlastiCities
Cheeseman, M. (2003) 'Introduction' in Rachel Heller—New Work, London: Angela Flowers Gallery
Cheeseman, M. (2003) 'Introduction to John Gibbons' in The Post Industrial Landscape, Prague: Czech Museum of Fine Art

Creative publications

Cheeseman, M, Collignon, F and Miller, J (eds.) (2019–2020) The Dictionary of Neoliberal Terms volumes 1–4 London: Spirit Duplicator
Cheeseman, M. and Guccionne, K (eds) (2016–20), Journal of Imaginary Research volumes 1–5, Sheffield: NATCECT
Cheeseman, M (2017) 'Recalling the structure' in Uncommon building by Honor Gavin and Adam Kaasa, London: Spirit Duplicator
Cheeseman, M (2016) ‘On rigidity, Reus and Reich’ in BVB, edited by Fabienne Collignon, Sheffield: privately published
Cheeseman, M (2016) Why use mimeograph?, mimeographed sheet
Bareham, P. and Cheeseman, M. (2014–2017), The British Esperantist, 1–10, Sheffield: Spirit Duplicator.
Cheeseman, M. (2013) 'The Heart, The Centre' in Route 57, Issue 9
Cheeseman, M. (2013) 'Five Pounds' in Wordwards, edited by Lehóczky, Á. and Piette, A., Sheffield: School of English
Cheeseman, M. (2008) 'Notes from the Alliteration Conference' in Route 57, Issue 4
Cheeseman, M. (2007) 'Everything on an envelope' in Route 57, Issue 2

Films

Cheeseman, M. (dir.) (2014) Swaying for the Lens: The Haxey Hood, narrated by Fournier, L., edited by Lepiorz, J. 40 mins
Cheeseman, M. (dir.) (2008) Night after night: costume and performance amongst Sheffield Students, 15 mins
Cheeseman, M. (dir.) (2008) White T-Shirt, Black Marker: Mapping the Undergraduate Body, 15 mins