York academic announced as New Generation Thinker

Posted on 16 May 2024

The BBC and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) reveal University of York academic, Dr Janine Bradbury as a 2024 New Generation Thinker.

Photo credit - Andrew Roberts

Dr Bradbury, a Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Writing and Culture in the Department of English and Related Literature, is one of 10 Ten of the UK’s most promising arts and humanities early career researchers who have been announced as this year’s New Generation Thinkers.

From hundreds of applications, these ten New Generation Thinkers represent some of the best early career researchers in the country. They will be given the opportunity to share their pioneering research with BBC Radio 4 listeners, as well as being provided with unique access to training and support from AHRC and the BBC.

New insights

The 2024 New Generation Thinkers will bring new insights into diverse topics. An award-winning poet and critic, Dr Bradbury’s research and creative practice is wide-ranging. Her work on Grace Jones, American professional wrestling, passing-for-white, comedy, Toni Morrison, and motherhood has been published by Bloomsbury, Palgrave Macmillan, Routledge, the Guardian, the Young Vic Theatre and elsewhere and she has contributed to BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour and Great Lives.

Her current work explores the relationship between love, feeling, and reading. Her debut poetry pamphlet Sometimes Real Love Comes Quick and Easy (2024, ignitionpress) explores sentimentality.

Inspire

Dr Bradbury said: "For me, being an arts and humanities academic is really about having conversations. It's about getting to unpack the books, films, art and ideas that inspire us, unsettle us, and draw us in.

“It's my hope that the New Generation Thinkers scheme will enable me to extend those conversations beyond the classroom and lecture theatre, so that I can connect with and learn from readers, listeners, and audiences across the UK. This was the final year that I was eligible to apply for the scheme, so I'm really pleased that I was successful!"

The names of the ten researchers were announced as part of a New Thinking episode of the Arts and Ideas podcast hosted by former New Generation Thinker Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough.

Shaping thought

Professor Christopher Smith, AHRC Executive Chair said: “The New Generation Thinkers programme brings interesting, important ideas into the public consciousness, shaping thought and discussion.

“From fundamental questions about the nature of reality to how political propagandists harnessed the seductive power of Technicolor, and the impact of imprisonment on mothers and children, and the most challenging problems of our day, These are ideas of thrilling originality and importance.

“These ten brilliant, original thinkers demonstrate the ability of the arts and humanities to help us to better understand both ourselves and the world around us.”

Promising

Matthew Dodd, Commissioning Editor, Arts, BBC Radio 3 and 4, added “We’re looking forward to working with ten of the most promising early-career academics. Each year the New Generation Thinker scheme brings radio production teams a wave of stimulating and thought-provoking contributors who have a passion for public engagement. After over a decade of successful partnership with BBC Radio 3, it’s great to be bringing their ideas to a new home of listeners on BBC Radio 4, the biggest speech radio station in the UK, where they’ll find a wide audience.”