Dr Emma Wagstaff, lecturer in French Studies, has been awarded a research network grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) for two years beginning in September 2012.

Together with Nina Parish from the University of Bath, she will organise a series of workshops to take place at various venues in Britain and France, including Birmingham, to investigate contemporary French poetic practice. The workshops will explore the ways in which contemporary poetry in French interacts with other disciplines and media, such as the visual arts, digital technologies, music, translation and philosophy. The workshops will be accompanied by exhibitions and performances, and practising poets, translators, artists and musicians will take part.

The project will lead to various academic publications and will have a dedicated open-access website.