Current PhD Students

Catherine Edwards

Thesis Title:

Literary Covers: Secret writing in Cold War spy fiction and film

Supervisors:

Prof Helen Smith & Dr Bryan Radley

Description:

Secret writing - perceived both as the writing of secrets (act) and as the instrument of subterfuge (object) - lies at the heart of espionage operations both in fact and in fiction. Intelligence reports, secret dossiers, coded documents and dead-letter-drops are all familiar motifs in spy narratives, highlighting the significance of the written word as a vehicle of truth, deception, propaganda and misinformation.

My project explores systems of written communication in British Cold War spy fiction and film. Sought as objects of desire, written texts raise ongoing questions about authorial identity and provenance, material authenticity, and political value. I investigate how textual and literary forms, materials and spaces are used as a means of fashioning, concealing, conveying and exposing secrets. Relatedly, I explore how these cultural expressions influence how the realities of the covert state – by nature unacknowledged and undocumented – are deciphered and understood.

Research interests include literary intelligence studies, espionage in popular culture, writing on screen, and adaptation. I hold an MPhil in Playwriting from the University of Birmingham. I previously worked as Director of Script, the regional writer development agency for the West Midlands. My work has been published in The Conversation.