Dr Matt Hayler has been awarded a research grant by the AHRC, for the project ‘Ambient Literature’.
Studying the history of the book, this two-year project (awarded £800,000) will investigate how the physical location of the reader can shape and alter the story being read, and affect the nature of writing itself. It will also explore how reading situations have changed through the presence of new digital technologies and portable screens, for example, the Amazon Kindle.
The project will commission three new works that will demonstrate the power of the situated literary experience - how the readers’ immediate environment affects the way literary text is read and delivered. Starting in May, Dr Hayler will be collaborating with Primary Investigators Professor Jon Dovey and Dr Thomas Abba from the University of the West of England, and fellow Co-Investigators Professor Kate Pullinger and Professor Ian Gadd from Bath Spa University.