Avril at Romsey

… and Lancefield and Riddells Creek and Mount Macedon

Proud embarrassment? Embarrassed pride?

Those of you still in academia writing articles for refereed publications can stop reading now.

As can those of my friends who have book contracts. I love you, I’m very proud of you, but this post is not for you.

Now, everyone else – I’m having an essay published. The publisher is BenBella Books; the book (in their Smart Pop series) is a collection on the television show Supernatural; and my essay looks at some of the show’s theological themes. (Seriously, it has them!) Initially I wanted to call it “A Very Supernatural Theodicy” but I think it’s ended up as “Good and Evil in Supernatural”. It’ll be published early in 2009.

So, there you go. I’m starting to seriously combine my interest in theology and my obsession with pop culture.

(PS: Just to reassure anyone who’s wondering about my use of time, and in case any of my various supervisors visits this page – Supernatural episodes were watched on my Mondays off, and the essay was written during my two weeks’ holiday. Truly.)

June 3, 2008 - Posted by | Life, etc., Pop Culture

7 Comments »

  1. Congrats Avril, and how timely! Just as the Supernatural boys are about to return to the TV screens of the pop-culture-obsessed 🙂

    I see some serious couch-potato Mondays in your future (and what better way to spend chilly days off, than curled up on the couch with chocolate, amid the luscious ducted heating, watching your fave boys 🙂

    Comment by Caro | June 4, 2008 | Reply

  2. It’s great when you can combine intrests, which explains why I’m a Reader Services Librarian who specialises in graphic novel recommendations. And you don’t have anything to be embarrassed about, in this post I mean, I can’t speak for the reast of your life. Pop culture is nothing to be ashamed of, read ‘Everything Bad Is Good For You’ and you’ll see how popular culture actually makes you smarter.

    Comment by Pete | June 4, 2008 | Reply

  3. I read about ‘Everything Bad is Good for You’ (me, read books? Too busy writing refereed journal articles! hahaha) West Wing makes you more intelligent! Hooray.
    This, of course, is not your first published essay, Avril. There’s the other one. The one I read way back when I read books . . . (If I watch more West Wing, will I remember the title?)
    Just in case you think I’m being selective, my ignorance is global: I have no idea what Supernatural is. But I’m sure Crosslight would be keen to print an extract/profile. They seem to go for pop/theology crossover. Speak to the ‘creative and aggressive’ marketing people at BenBella; I’m sure they’d appreciate the plug.

    Comment by Olivia | June 4, 2008 | Reply

  4. You could have picked a less obnoxious show…. but well done anyway.

    Comment by Alex | June 5, 2008 | Reply

  5. Go team Avvers. I’m not exactly sure what this Supernatural thing is, but it’s great you’re doing some fun writing!

    Comment by Rosie | June 6, 2008 | Reply

  6. woo hoo – well done, Avril. I promise to buy a copy (provided it’s not toooo scarey – that supernatural stuff does my head in!) :0)

    Comment by Brendan | June 6, 2008 | Reply

  7. “What happens when you get great writers to write about the most interesting . . . television series? What happens when some of the world’s smartest . . . religious scholars are asked to write – in clear English — about pop culture? What happens when really smart writers take television seriously, but not too seriously?”

    What happens? Avril gets published!

    Comment by Olivia | June 8, 2008 | Reply


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