Person

Parnell, Jo

1940

Dr Jo Parnell is a reviewer, essayist, memoirist, conference speaker, editor, and a practitioner and analyst of creative non-fiction, especially the literary docu-memoir. She has a particular interest in the work of Helen Garner, Tony Parker, Sheila Stewart, and Catherine Cookson. As a writer of literary docu-memoir, Jo has evolved a new way of writing lives, adapted from the form pioneered by Tony Parker. Emeritus Professor Hugh Craig, formerly her principal supervisor, is her mentor. Her work has been published nationally, and internationally. One of her works, “Translating and conveying the damaging childhood in Our Kate” was requested for inclusion as a central chapter in Catherine Cookson Country: On the Borders of Legitimacy, Fiction and History, a world-first text book on Catherine Cookson, edited by Julie Anne Taddeo. Dr Parnell's most recent book, an international edited collection entitled Representation of the Mother-in-Law in literature, film, drama, and television (Lexington Books, USA), was released in July, 2018. Another of her international edited collections, New and Experimental Approaches to Writing Lives (Macmillan International Higher Education--Red Globe Press imprint), is due for release in August (2019) this year. Among other projects, Jo is currently working on a sole-authored book of creative short stories based on real-life experiences, as well as another international edited collection, her second for Lexington Books, USA, entitled Portrayals of the Bride in Screen, Stage and Literary Productions, and Pop Culture Narratives. Research Expertise The main focus of my research, literary docu-memoir, is an unusual and little known form which involves the creative nonfiction writer audio-taping ordinary people for their life experience and thoughts and feelings, as the resource material for a literary production.