Lois Wilson-McFarland

Thesis title: Sticky Stories: Affect and Biblical Myth in Women’s Speculative Fiction, 1970-2020

Qualifications

MScR in English Literature, Distinction. The University of Edinburgh, 2018.

MA in English Language and Literature, First Class with Honours. The University of Edinburgh, 2013.

Responsibilities & affiliations

Scottish Network for Religion and Literature. Steering Committee. https://www.ed.ac.uk/divinity/research/centres/scottish-network-for-religion-and-literature

 

Undergraduate teaching

The Bible in Literature: course tutor, 2019/20-2021/22

English Literature 1, semester 2: course tutor, 2020/21

Research summary

My research interests are in the field of literature and religion, exploring biblical myth in contemporary speculative fiction. 

Current research interests

Speculative fiction, feminisms, affect theory, biblical studies, theology, ecology, queer theory

Papers delivered

“Sticky” Stories: Affect and Biblical Myth in 1970s Speculative Fiction by Rhoda Lerman and Angela Carter. Current Research in Speculative Fiction Conference 2022 [forthcoming]. University of Liverpool. 

Suspicion, Desire and Indeterminacy in The Power by Naomi Alderman. BACLS Naomi Alderman Conference 2019, Bath Spa University. 

“Perhaps She Was Mad”: Science Fiction Genre Protest in Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time. British Association for American Studies 2019, University of Sussex. 

“Step Away from the Tree, Eve, with Your Hands Up”: Playfulness as Critique of Scripture in the Fiction of Margaret Atwood and Naomi Alderman. Christianity and Literature Conference 2019, Harvard Divinity School. 

Peer-reviewed Journal Articles:

Wilson, Lois. “‘Suspicion Is More Likely To Keep You Alive Than Trust’: Affective Relationships with the Bible in Octavia Butler’s Parables.” Journal for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies, vol. 30, no. 1, 2021, pp. 95–121. https://doi.org/10.17613/f3wp-m042

Other Media:

Wilson, Lois. "For a Series so Concerned with Leaning into the Horror, The Handmaid’s Tale Utterly Fails to Address Race." US Studies Online: Special Featured Blog Series, Television. 6 Nov. 2019. https://usso.uk/for-a-series-so-concerned-with-leaning-into-the-horror-the-handmaids-tale-utterly-fails-to-address-race/