Biography
Claire Battershill is an innovator in research on the theory and practice of book publishing since the early 20th century. Her current work uses publishers’ archives to follow the life cycles of books from manuscript to finished product, revealing publishers’ roles in helping to shape contemporary culture.
Battershill has participated in collaborative scholarly publishing, open-access pedagogy, digital humanities, and creative writing. Her work has shown how vital it is, in an increasingly digital landscape, to consider the aesthetics and politics of book publishing practices when thinking about what and how we read.
Battershill holds a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship, supporting her work on “Travelling Books: A Transnational History of Literary Publishers and their Archives, 1914-2014.”
An accomplished creative writer herself, Battershill has won acclaim and awards for her short-story writing, including first prize in the short fiction category in the 2008 CBC Literary Awards for her story “Circus.” Battershill is also a mentor who has relayed her passion for creative writing and literature by engaging with inner-city, elementary-aged children in London at the literacy not-for-profit organization The Ministry of Stories, as well as with people of all ages in universities, high schools and public libraries throughout British Columbia.