Dr Andrew Ainscough
Teaching AssociateResearch Overview
Andrew's research explores queer and northern storytelling in playwrighting with reference to the writer Alan Bennett. He is also interested in exploring queer stories in happy/sad binaries. He has further interests in experimental writing in particular the blending/mixing/interactions of sheet music, music theory and the written word.
Current Teaching
Crew103: Introduction to Creative Writing.
Crew203: Intermediate Creative Writing Wokrshop.
Crew303: Advanced Creative Writing Workshop.
FASS506: Designing, undertaking and surviving Doctoral Research
Senior Writing Mentor FASS
Thesis Title
'I am Alan Bennett': A personal journey through influence.
Thesis Outline
Ainscough's thesis comprised an original five-part dramatic work, Alan, which represented a new creative engagement with Alan Bennett's literary career and authorial identity. It tells the story of Roger Gray, a man who believes he is Alan Bennett, or should have been. It traces the unpacking of Roger’s self in relation to Bennett and how he discovers identity amongst influence. The play sought to mirror Bennett’s wide- reaching appeal through both humour and gentle sadness.
Ainscough explored the enduring popularity of Bennett and writing within his mode of Northern familiarity. The thesis puts a particular emphasis on the role of the queer and how writing with the influence of Bennett raises questions of what happiness means within queer storytelling. It builds towards a new methodology of the ‘Bennettian’ – that being Ainscough's own personal interpretation of the feeling, aura or reminder of the life and work of Alan Bennett. The writer placed an emphasis on his own personal connections to Bennett in the writing process. He concluded that using a methodology of the ‘Bennettian’ allows space for sadness in contemporary queer storytelling and can be a method of navigating through personal history and influence.
Key Words: Alan Bennett, Queer, Theatre, Creative Writing.