Pagination
1-388ISBN-13
9780143574170ISBN-10
0143574175Language
engResearch statement
Background
Young adult paranormal romance (YAPNR) has been a very visible subgenre of romance since the emergence of Twilight, but also highly criticised, in particular, because of the way it regularly encodes gendered power dynamics in heterosexual romantic relationships through portraying superpowered men and human women. In my YAPNR novels, I sought to explore ways in which these dynamics might be revised and corrected, reflecting what Alison Light calls “relations impossibly equalised” (1986, 142), while maintaining the emotional essence of the romance narrative.
Contribution
This portfolio contains three novels - Valentine (2017), Ironheart (2018), and Misrule (2019).
The protagonists of these YAPNR novels are in many ways archetypical – human Pearl and superpowered Finn. However, by revising the ways in which the tropes of the genre are articulated, these novels offer fresh possibilities for the ways we tell love stories. In addition, these books explore new ways to tell love stories that are not about *romantic* love, but rather friendship, as narrativised through the parallel telling of Pearl and Phil’s friendship.
Significance
These novels are published by Big Five publisher Penguin, and widely read. Valentine had an initial print run of 5000 copies and has been reprinted several times, appearing on bestseller lists as recently as September 2019. Their success has led to numerous appearances at literary events and festivals: eg. in 2019 the researcher appeared at the Melbourne Writers Festival, Emerging Writers Festival, Wheeler Centre, State Library of Victoria, and fan convention Supanova. For many, the researcher was invited as both author and scholar, allowing them to discuss this research into romance in the context of creative practice.Publication classification
JO3 Original Creative Works – Textual WorkScale
NTRO MajorPublisher
Penguin BooksPlace of publication
Sydney, N.S.W.
