Projects/residencies | Kiera Chapman S Writ

What am I up to?

INDEPENDENT RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

I'm an Independent Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, working on nature, attention, and biodiversity loss. My work studies the emergence of the 'new suburbia': housing estates that look and feel very different. They are emerging in response to a perceived crisis in attention that can be remedied by contact with nature, and new policies to conserve biodiversity at a time of natural decline.

PROSPECT COTTAGE WRITING RESIDENCY

I am lucky enough to have secured a writing residency at Prospect Cottage, Dungeness (former home of Derek Jarman). I will use it to study the way that his writing and gardening create a practice of 'queer botany', viewing nature through a non-heteronormative lens.

BODLEIAN LIBRARY EXHIBITION

I am a small part of an exciting exhibition team, creating an exhibition at the Bodleian Library about paying attention to 'everyday nature'.

CO-INVESTIGATOR, ESRC-BID

I am Co-Investigator on a £1m ESRC bid to explore the impact of the planning system on nature, and what can be done to improve outcomes for biodiversity. My part of the project uses a mixture of social science and arts and humanities methods to study alternative visions and valuations of 'everyday nature' amongst communities.

SECOND CALENDAR BOOK

With Rebecca Warren and Lulah Ellender, I am writing a second 'calendar-style' book, to follow Nature's Calendar: The British Year in 72 Seasons. I can't say much more than this right now, but I hope to be able to give you a lot more information very soon!