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Dr Paul Johnston

LECTURER IN CREATIVE WRITING

Dr Paul Johnston
I have been a lecturer in Creative Writing at Liverpool Hope since 2016.  
Biography: My first degree was in classics and Modern Greek (Oxford University, B.A./ M.A., first-class); I then read general and comparative literature as a post-graduate, studying literary theory and critical practice and writing a 25,000-word dissertation on D. H. Lawrence and a Greek novelist (Oxford University, M.Phil.). I later took a second Master's, this one in applied linguistics, post-graduating with distinction (Edinburgh University, M.Sc.). I then researched reading as it is conceptualised in different academic disciplines at the Open University. Finally, I submitted 40,000 words of new fiction plus a 40,000-word critical and reflective critique, for my Ph.D. (St. Andrews University). 
I am the published author of 20 novels and worked as a full-time novelist for 20 years. One series, consisting of eight novels, is set in a futuristic Edinburgh. The first, Body Politic, won the Crime Writers' Association Award for best first novel (1997). The series has been classed as satire as well as crime. Another series - of seven novels - is set in Greece: the second, The Last Red Death, won the Sherlock Award for best detective novel (2004). Several other novels have been shortlisted for awards. I have also written short stories. My poetry was published after winning a competition. 
I worked on an Athenian newspaper; wrote the Greek prime minister's foreign press review; and translated books, museum captions, and exhibition catalogue chapters from Greek to English. I am fluent in Modern Greek and spent many years in Greece. For ten years, I chaired events at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and have made many radio, TV, festival, library and bookshop appearances. 
I have written academic articles on crime fiction pedagogy, and crime fiction and politics.
Teaching Specialisms: I teach at all three undergraduate levels and am responsible for lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials and one-to-one meetings with students. I specialise in teaching language, the practice of creative writing (including reading), fiction writing, and professional writing. I coordinate Level H (third-year) studies in creative writing.
Recent Works: Novel - Impolitic Corpses (2019)
Other Recent Publications and Projects: I am currently working on a historical novel set during the Trojan War..