We had a chance to catch up with Dr Sarah Bernstein, who is a Senior Lecturer in Scottish Literature & Creative Writing at both Undergraduate and Postgraduate level.
Tell us a little bit about your career so far...
I joined 海角论坛 in December 2021. Before that, I worked at the universities of Edinburgh, where I did my PhD, and Sheffield. I spent a lucky few months on a research fellowship at IASH, too. Between and during my degrees, which were in English & Creative Writing, I鈥檝e worked as a pool attendant, a terrible waitress, a subtitler, a clerk at a French-language library, a tutor, an audio typist, and a filer at a legal office, to name only a few. I also worked at the National Library of Scotland in Reference Services during my PhD, which I loved.
What has been the most memorable moment of your career to date?
When I found out my first novel was going to be translated into Portuguese in Brazil. Literature in translation has been very important to my own development as a writer and a thinker. There鈥檚 something so unbelievable about the idea that something I wrote might enter into a dialogue in a different language, in another country, that it has this afterlife so far beyond me.
What is your role within the school?
I teach and supervise across literature and creative writing at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
What inspired you to enter your field/profession?
I didn鈥檛 enter the field with any idea that I鈥檇 ever get an academic job. But I kept at it because I couldn鈥檛 get over that feeling when you鈥檙e reading all these disparate sources on a topic, or an idea, and suddenly a pattern emerges 鈥� something clicks and you can see how things are or might be related, how they might fit together.
What advice would you give to someone starting out in your field?
In terms of undertaking research, I鈥檇 say read as widely as possible, and not just in your field. Sara Ahmed talks about the paradox of the footprint, where because a path (or a way of thinking) has been established, it makes it easier for us to follow, and we do, which entrenches that path or way of thinking. Try to break out of that 鈥� like Saidiya Hartman says, better an errant path than the known world. Also, be generous, intellectually and personally. Refuse the idea that we鈥檙e operating under conditions of scarcity and that we need to compete with one another.
What initially attracted you to the University of 海角论坛?
The interest in hybridity and being able to work across English & Creative Writing.
What are your biggest professional challenges?
Time. The time to attend to all the different components of the job with the care each deserves.
What current trends do you see influencing your field?
For a few years now there鈥檚 been a renewed focus on the social uses of literature 鈥� whether and how literature can act in the world.
Tell us about any research you are currently involved in...
I鈥檓 interested in the idea of literary difficulty 鈥� what makes a text difficult? And what is difficulty for 鈥� what can it do? I鈥檝e been inspired by a lot of feminist work on refusal by writers like Saidiya Hartman and Denise Ferreira Da Silva, and I鈥檓 currently co-editing a cluster on 鈥楪estures of Refusal鈥� for Post 45 Contemporaries with my friend and colleague Dr Yanbing Er at National University of Singapore. I鈥檝e been trying to find time to work on a project on the relationship between literary difficulty and the idea of the common good for a while now. Otherwise, I have a book manuscript in development that focuses on mid-century writing, gender and the welfare state, and I鈥檝e just finished my second novel, Study for Obedient, which borrows from the painter Paula Rego鈥檚 idea that women can be 鈥榦bedient and murderous at the same time鈥�.
Any special thanks or shout-outs you'd like to give to colleagues who have helped or inspired you throughout your career here?
I鈥檝e only been here a few months, but everyone in ECW has been very supportive and welcoming so far.
If you could switch jobs with someone, who would it be?
I鈥檓 very lucky to have this job, but I always wanted to be either a park ranger or a filing clerk in a basement warehouse.
What keeps you busy outside of work?
Reading, growing vegetables, raising a few sheep, cold water swimming.
What is your guilty pleasure?
I鈥檓 trying not to feel guilty about any small pleasure I can eke out in this life.
