Textuality, Place, and the Self: Reimagining Life Writing through Women’s Diaries from Ireland, 1725-1810

DIARIES will enable the experienced researcher, Dr Amy Prendergast (AP) to undertake a 24-month fellowship – Textuality, Place, and the Self: Reimagining Life Writing through Women’s Diaries from Ireland, 1725-1810 – at Queen’s University Belfast, under the supervision of Professor Moyra Haslett, an expert in eighteenth-century Irish and women’s writing.

Engaging with overlooked archival diaries by women across Ireland, DIARIES will reconceptualise the diary form and reinvigorate international concepts of the diurnal self, transforming the field of life writing, and contributing to groundbreaking findings for Eighteenth-Century Studies.

Incorporating methodologies and approaches from multiple disciplines, the project will allow high-impact dissemination, forming the basis of AP’s second monograph, an international interdisciplinary conference, a peer-reviewed journal article, and a website.

Exploring the creative potentials of exchange between university and practitioner organisations, DIARIES will allow for the reimagining of Ireland’s literary and cultural heritage in both Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland, advancing and enhancing understanding of both the 18c and women’s lives.

This period of mobility will see AP learn new research-specific skills; continue her professional development; and gain research-relevant inter-sectoral experience through a prestigious secondment at the National Trust.

The pioneering research generated will be innovatively disseminated for diverse audiences within and beyond the academy, embedding knowledge through workshops, an exhibition, teaching and collaboration, and cross-border outreach events.

DIARIES will augment and advance AP’s international reputation as a leading scholar of 18c writing and an emerging expert in life writing, enabling her to realise her outstanding potential, and positioning her to secure a permanent lectureship in a prominent European University.