J T Welsch

Profile

Biography

I joined the Department of English and Related Literature in September 2016 as Lecturer in English and Creative Industries. Previously, I was a lecturer and then Head of Creative Writing at York St John University. Before that, I was an associate lecturer at the Open University and taught at the University of Manchester while completing my PhD. I studied songwriting for my undergraduate degree at Berklee College of Music in Boston, followed by an MA in Screenwriting and an MA in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London. My PhD at Manchester focused on William Carlos Williams and modernist poetics. 

My teaching and research interests span the contemporary creative industries, 20th- and 21st-century poetry, and the intersection of creative, critical, and industry practices.

I have published a number of books of and about poetry, including Orchids (Salt, 2010), Hell Creek Anthology (Sidekick, 2015), and the monograph The Selling and Self-Regulation of Contemporary Poetry, published by Anthem in 2020. With Ágnes Lehóczky, I co-edited an anthology of migrant poetry, Wretched Strangers: Borders Movement Homes , published by Boiler House Press in 2018. My trade nonfiction book, The Poetry of Suicide: Lessons in Grief from the Lives and Deaths of Poets, was published by Manchester University Press in April 2026. I have also published articles and chapters focused on literature, film, and other creative fields, including essays on T. S. Eliot, John Berryman, Elizabeth Bishop, James Joyce, and Taylor Swift. 

I am currently co-editing an essay collection, Cultural and Creative Industries Research in Action (forthcoming with Routledge), and writing a book of personal essays about the creative development of writers and artists.

I previously served as director of the Centre for Modern Studies at York, co-director of Thin Ice Press, and founding director of the Liberal Arts programme at York. 

Research

Overview

I’m a specialist in the creative industries and literary culture. My research primarily examines the social and economic structures underpinning the writing industry, and the relationship between creative, critical, and industry practices.

My first monograph, The Selling and Self-Regulation of Contemporary Poetry (Anthem, 2020), examines publishing, prizes, technology, and broader shifts in poetry culture since 2008. The anthology Wretched Strangers: Borders Movement Homes (Boiler House, 2018), co-edited with Ágnes Lehóczky (Sheffield), was assembled in response to the challenges faced by migrants in the UK and elsewhere, and was followed by an extensive reading tour. My trade non-fiction book, The Poetry of Suicide: Lessons in Grief from the Lives and Deaths of Poets (Manchester University Press, 2026), connects the work of poets who took their own lives with a long history of suicide in my own family. I have also published articles and chapters on literature, film, and other creative fields, including essays on T. S. Eliot, John Berryman, Elizabeth Bishop, James Joyce, and Taylor Swift. 

My research often involves creative practice, moving between creative and critical forms. My poetry publications include Orchids (Salt, 2010), Hell Creek Anthology (Sidekick, 2015), and an ongoing series of handmade, hand-printed pamphlets and ephemera produced with Thin Ice Press, the department’s letterpress studio, which I co-founded in 2018 with Prof Helen Smith. 

I am also interested in interdisciplinarity humanities research methods more generally, and previously served as director of York's Centre for Modern Studies and founding director of the Liberal Arts programme at York. 

Projects

I’m co-editing an essay collection, Cultural and Creative Industries Research in Action, with colleagues from York’s Cultural and Creative Industries research cluster and the School of Arts and Creative Technologies.

My limited-edition poetry collection, Flora & Fauna, with linocut illustrations by Joanna Lisowiec, will be published soon by Thin Ice Press, is currently being designed, typeset, and printed at Thin Ice Press.

I’m also working on a book of personal essays about künstlerroman and cultural narratives of artistic development.

Supervision

I regularly supervise undergraduate and postgraduate research projects in the following areas:

• creative writing and creative practice
• creative industries and publishing
• modern and contemporary poetry and poetics
• queer studies and asexuality
• writing and mental health
• autofiction and creative-critical writing
• experimental writing
• film, screenwriting, and adaptation
• music and songwriting
• digital literature (social media, interactive writing, online performance)
• games, graphic novels, podcasts, and other popular culture
• writing and literary culture

I am always happy to discuss possibilities for creative or critical projects, practice-led research, and research-led practice.

External activities

Overview

I read frequently from my own work, and have performed at many universities, bookshops, conferences, festivals, and other events throughout the UK, Ireland, and Europe. As an organiser, I also regularly chair or facilitate public performances, workshops, and discussions as part of the York Literature Festival, York Festival of Ideas, and other regional events.

I have published reviews and comment pieces in outlets including the Guardian, The Conversation, and Poetry Review, and I occasionally contribute to film and popular culture discussions on BBC Radio York. I have also been a founding editor for student-run publications, The Stray and York Literary Review. 

I have overseen external student collaborations, including joint events with the University of Sheffield’s MA in Creative Writing, University Camarade in London, and student publications with Ripon Cathedral, Shandy Hall, and other regional institutions. 

With Ágnes Lehóczky of the University of Sheffield, I edited the anthology Wretched Strangers: Borders Movement Homes (Boiler House, 2018), accompanied by a series of events across the UK and Ireland, which brought together migrant poets and scholars of postcolonial literature and migration.