James Byrne
Senior Lecturer, Literatures in English
Teaching focus:
Modern and contemporary poetry
Previous positions:
- Reader in Contemporary Literature, M.A. Programme Leader in Creative Writing,
- Edge Hill University, 2014-2025
- Visiting Lecturer, Department of Literatures in English, Cornell University, 2022
- Research Associate, South-East Asian Department, School of Oriental and African Studies, 2011-2012
- Poet in Residence, Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, 2011-2012
- Lecturer, Creative Writing, New York University, 2010
Academic background:
- Ph.D., Creative writing, Edge Hill University, 2016
- M.F.A., Creative writing and poetry, New York University, 2011
- B.Sc., Communications and cultural studies, North London University (now London Metropolitan University), 2000
Last book read:
“Fathers & Sons” by Ivan Turgenev. It was a tough one to finish, since I began reading it to my own father during his final weeks in a care home for dementia. Reading it whilst grieving for him was powerful. It's also a brilliantly psychological portrayal of character, which drives the plot. Few novelists appeared to have this approach before Turgenev latched onto it.
In your own time/when not working:
I love to walk, paint and, of course, to read. Travel has been an essential part of my poetics.
Courses you’re most looking forward to teaching:
Creative Writing. I'm a poet, but love teaching fiction and non-fiction genres too.
What most excites you about Cornell:
Returning (I taught a semester here a few years ago and had many wonderful experiences watching the students I taught grow in their writing and flourish). Also working with colleagues with such expertise (in my field alone, poetry, it resembles one of the most exciting departments in the country).
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