Emma Henderson
English / Creative Writing Teacher
About Me
I currently teach Creative Writing and English Language A-levels but have taught GCSE English too. In the past, I have worked as an LSA and have been a cover teacher of various subjects including Ethics and Philosophy.
I have been writing content for the Good Men Project's 'All Things Geek' section.
I write in my spare time when I'm not herding my children or watching cartoons with my husband, who is a magician.
I collect Momiji and Kimmidoll kokeshi dolls as well as Marvel and My Little Pony figures.
I enjoy seeing live comedy and so far have seen Alan Davies, Mark Watson, Ed Byrne, Bill Bailey, Lenny Henry, Dylan Moran and Dara O'Briein. Tim Minchin, Greg Davies and Isy Suttie are on the wish list.
Bio
My Writing
Poetry
Since 1998 I have been writing free verse and prose poetry.
My first published piece of writing was the sonnet 'Hoard' in the Young Writer's anthology when I was fifteen.
I've recently moved to using more rhythm and phonological devices in my poems.
Prose Non-fiction
I've written a number of opinion pieces interpreting popular culture for example with philosophical or psychoanalytical readings. These range from interpretations of Yoshitoshi aBe's haunting anime 'Haibane Renmei' to the influence of Palahniuk's 'Fight Club' on the new metal lyrics of bands such as Papa Roach and Limp Bizkit.
Current projects include analyses of cult animations 'Adventure Time,' 'Sailor Moon,'My Little Pony' and the sexist representations of male characters in 'Peppa Pig'. I am also working on a piece about the representation of angels in film, anime and literature.
I also write wiki articles to keep in the practice of the non-fiction, encyclopaedic style - most recently updating articles regarding 'Ghost in the Shell'.
In addition to this, I have written a number of literary essays including a feminist reading of Beckett's 'Not I' and 'Company' and an exploration of the hatred of science and philiosophy in the work of Romanticist poets Blake, Keats and Coleridge.
Prose Fition
The most recent extended piece of prose fiction I wrote was for a competition. It was a semi-autobiographical bildungsroman novella with poems introducing the themes of each segment.
Ongoing projects include a collection of cyberpunk fairy tales, starting with 'Beauty and the 'Borg'.
Skills
Proof reading,
Time management,
Walking thesaurus
Languages
English,
a little French,
even less German,
some Klingon.
Education
University of Greenwich
PGCE LLLS (16 to adult)
Teacher training course with placement at St. Vincent College.
University of Portsmouth
BA English Literature
My favorite units included The Gothic, Beckett, Post-modernism, Popular Fiction and Romantic Movements.
My final year 10,000 word dissertation was entitled 'Alethiometer: the Epistemology of Pullman's 'His Dark Materials'' and I am editing it with a view to self-publishing it asan ebook via Amazon's on Kindle. It explores Jungian, Platonic and post-modernist representations of truth in 'Northern Lights' (aka 'The Golden Compass'), 'The Subtle Knife' and 'The Amber Spyglass.' The abstract can be found on the 'My Writing' page.