New Directions in Queer Oral History

This comprehensive international collection reflects on the practice, purpose, and functionality of queer oral history, and in doing so demonstrates the vibrancy and innovation of this rapidly evolving field.

Drawing on the roots of oral history’s original commitment to "history from below" queer oral history has become an indispensable methodology at the heart of queer studies. Expanding and extending the existing canon, this book offers up key observations about queer oral history as a methodology, and how it might be advanced through cutting edge approaches. The collection contains a mix of contributions from established scholars, early career researchers, postgraduate students, archivists, and activists, ensuring its accessibility and wide appeal.

The go-to reference for queer oral history for scholars, undergraduate and postgraduate students, and community-engaged practitioners, New Directions in Queer Oral History advances rigorous methodological and theoretical debates and constitutes a significant intervention in the world of oral history.

Clare Summerskill gained her doctorate from Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. Her research interests include the ethics of verbatim theatre processes and the role of the contributor in such productions. She works as a visiting lecturer at various UK universities and she is also a playwright, oral historian, and stand-up comedian.

Amy Tooth Murphy is a lecturer in oral history at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. Her research interests include British post-war lesbian history; oral history theory and method; butch/femme cultures and identities; and lesbian literature. Her current research project is an exploration of butch lived experience and identity from 1950 to present.

Emma Vickers is a senior lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University in the UK. She specialises in queer British history and is the author of Queen and Country: Same-sex Desire in the British Armed Forces, 1939–1945 (2013). She is interested in the intersection between psychotherapy and oral testimony.