Jen McDerra

I’m a literary and life historian who uses archive materials and oral history techniques to reunite C20th women in books and broadcasting with their achievements.

My first book Keeping Memories was the product of a collaboration with the charity rYico which gathered testimonies from Rwandan refugees who had made the UK their home after the 1994 genocide.

My doctoral research is funded by the Leverhulme Trust and my findings contribute to the Caribbean Literary Heritage project.

I studied literature at the University of Nottingham before working in publishing. My interest in the relationship between narrative and belonging led me to a Masters in Migration at the University of Sussex.

During this time I worked with Commonwealth Writers and became part of the literary network which connects the UK and the Caribbean. I was part of a team which established Peekash Press in partnership with the BOCAS literary festival in Trinidad. I returned to academia to complete my doctoral project a few years later after working in Devon and Cornwall for The Charles Causley Trust and The Reader.

In 2018 I became a Fellow of the Clore Leadership Programme.

In 2019 I was awarded AHRC funding to develop an initiative which will connect libraries with other cultural institutions to create a pathway for people experiencing low socio-cultural confidence.