Personal profile
Biography
Published poet. Published academic. Performer of spoken Word. Conceived and manage Wordspace since 2014: Wordspace is a public performance platform and hub, with guest speakers, open mic, international reach, publications, social media and networking. Co-Director of Leeds Centre for Victorian Studies. Senior Lecturer in English and Creative Writing, design and teaching of UG and MA modules. Programme Leader for English and Creative Writing BA. Two poetry collections published and numerous poems in journals and anthologies. Edited scholarly volumes. Publications on Renaissance literature, Victorian literature, and on Creative Writing.
Research interests
Creative Writing (author of two poetry collections, Seasons of Myth, Indigo Dreams Press 2016 and The Ordinariness of Parrots, Stairwell Books 2015); spoken word and performance with music; myth (co-edited a volume of essays); ekphrasis; George Gascoigne; Petrarch; Victorian literature, especially gothic, horror, and fairy tale (co-edited two volumes of essays, Victorian Cultures of Liminality (Cambridge Scholars 2018) and Classic and Contemporary Mythic Identities (Edwin Mellen Press 2009), and sole editor for another Text and Image in the Long Nineteenth Century (Cambridge Scholars 2023, paperback 2024); orientalism in children's books; Rumi and connections with English Metaphysical Poets.
Co-director for Leeds Centre of Victorian Studies (LCVS).
Series Editor for Victorian Re-Visions, anthologies of poetry responding to Victorian writers, a collaboration between the Leeds Centre for Victorian Studies and English & Creative Writing at LTU.
Seeking to act as External Examiner for PhDs in English or Creative Writing.
Teaching and Administration
Co-Director of Leeds Centre for Victorian Studies.
Leading role in programme design.
Module leader and/or lecturer for:
Level 4: Writing and Expression. Literary Genres. Storytelling and World-Building (Games BA).
Level 5: Medieval to Modern Literature
Level 6: Dissertation supervisor
MA: Programme Leader for English and Creative Writing MA. Modules: Reading as a Writer, Writing as a Profession, Prose 1, Prose 2, Dissertation (Creative Writing MA).
PhD: Currently supervising five Phds in Creative Writing and in the Victorian Period.
Previously designer, module leader, and/or module lecturer for:
Shakespeare and Shakespearean Drama; Literature of Enchantment; Roots of Stories; Shakespeare; The Seventeenth Century; Writing, Performance and Persuasion; Love, Body and Soul (Renaissance poetry Level 6 option); Words on the Stage; and others.
Education/Academic qualification
Doctor of Philosophy, University of York
Award Date: 1 Jun 1997
Master of Arts, University of Cambridge
Award Date: 1 Jun 1990
Bachelor of Arts, University of Cambridge
Award Date: 1 Jun 1989
External positions
External Examiner , Arts University Bournemouth
2022 → 2025
Keywords
- P Language and Literature
- poetry
- spoken word
- performance
- Renaissance
- Gothic
REF 2029 UOA
- UOA27 - English Language and Literature
PGR supervisor
- PGR supervisor
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
-
Ekphrastic responses in twenty-first century poetry
Alyal, A. (Editor) & Hardwick, P. (Editor), 17 Feb 2026, (Accepted/In press) Routledge.Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
-
Recharging Jungle Book Reimagined
Alyal, A., 2026, (Accepted/In press) Ekphrastic Reponses In Twenty-First Century Poetry. RoutledgeResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
-
An anxiety of poets in their natural habitat
Alyal, A., Jul 2025, Stairwell Books. 16 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book
-
A space for healing
Alyal, A. (Contributor), Mar 2025, (Unpublished)Research output: Non-textual form › Performance
-
Nobody's Memoir: An unreliable history of fragments
Hardwick, P. & Alyal, A., Jul 2025, In: Axon: Creative Explorations. 15, 1, 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access
Prizes
-
Morecombe Fringe Festival Best Short Film
Alyal, A. (Recipient) & Hardwick, P. (Recipient), 2020
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
-
Saboteur Award for Best Collaborative Work
Alyal, A. (Recipient), Hardwick, P. (Recipient) & Baxter, K. (Recipient), 2015
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
-
Seeding Change: Creative Writing for Plant Health
Hardwick, P. (Speaker) & Alyal, A. (Speaker)
4 Jul 2025Activity: Invited talk/public lecture/debate
-
English: Shared Futures 2025
Alyal, A. (Speaker) & Hardwick, P. (Speaker)
3 Jul 2025 → 5 Jul 2025Activity: Attending or organising conference/seminar/workshop › Conference
-
External Examiner AUB
Alyal, A. (Examiner)
Jan 2025 → Jul 2025Activity: Examination, supervision and review › External examination (non-research degrees)
-
Journal of Victorian Culture (Journal)
Alyal, A. (Editorial board member)
2025 → …Activity: Publication peer review and editorial work › Editorial activity
-
Axon: Creative Explorations (Journal)
Alyal, A. (Editorial board member)
2025 → …Activity: Publication peer review and editorial work › Publication peer review
Press/Media
-
-
Creative Writing lecturers in international poetry project
26/11/21
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
-
Author who studied at Leeds Trinity launches creative writing workshops
1/10/20
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
-
-
Arts reviews for the Art Show on Yorvik Radio
13/04/20
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment