What is that Joanna does? And why is she doing it?*

*[aka “Well, Claude… it’s been A Journey”]

What Robert does is pretty obvious. He’s The Talent, daahlings!!

You’ll know that that means a lot of work away from the camera as well as in front of it, and that it’s a full-time job. What I do, however is perhaps less obvious. Essentially: it’s everything else. But what does that entail ?

[Hmm… Good question! Off the top of my head, I’m variously Front of House, office manager, research assistant, website designer, website maintenance department, website content provider, syllabus designer, purchasing officer, secretary/PA, IT department, database designer, database manager, media manager, video editor, marketing manager, market researcher, marketing analyst, social media specialist, accounts clerk, business analyst, budget manager, financial analyst, catering manager, social secretary, and general Robert-wrangler. That doesn’t sound too snappy, though, does it? Wait... I’ve got it…]

I’m Wright History’s maîtresse d'. Pleased to meet you!

That’s the salient information for most who’ll come here. For those who don’t want the full nine yards, please stop reading now or, should you wish, skip to the TL;DR (i.e. Too Long; Didn’t Read - aka: the headline news) here.

For those of you who’ve expressed curiosity as to my hinterland along the way, however, grab a cup of tea/glass of wine, and just keep scrolling!

After A levels, I spent ten years in customer services/sales/marketing: initially as office clerk, then head of customer services and, eventually, marketing PA at Rohan Designs (those of you who know my views on Nature may feel free to register the irony of that), with frequent spells working in Rohan shops around the UK. I then moved into telesales (variously: IT recruitment, publishing advertising, and training courses for accounting software), whilst indulging my lifelong passion for theatre, art, and culture with my husband Graham, and developing an emerging interest in history.

After an 18-month maternity “break”, I took a BA History degree as a mature student at Newcastle University, eventually gaining a first, thus finally divesting myself of the chip which had long been on my shoulder about not having done a degree at “the normal time”. Inspired by a lifelong desire to somehow contribute - in however small a way - to making the world a better and happier place,* encouraged by my professors’ feedback, and patiently supported and encouraged by my Spouse and, increasingly as it became more sentient, our Spawn, we decided that despite the rarity of academic jobs, we’d go for it.

*[Two points arising here: 1. I know… it sounds nauseatingly pious. But eh. What can I say? We all know that I’m not a fan of Facts, but this really is an Actual Fact! & 2. Yup - I was (and remain) adamant that if done well, humanities at university level can change lives - not least because humanities graduates are fundamentally important for a thinking, politically-engaged, and civilized society. <climbs down from soap-box>]

We moved to York, where I took an MA in medieval history at the University of York’s Centre for Medieval Studies, courtesy of an AHRC scholarship, which I was also awarded the following year for my doctoral research. My PhD was awarded in 2005, with the snappy title of ‘Lay male sanctity in twelfth-century England’ (c’mon. You know you really want to read it, right…?!).

There are two relevant trajectories at this point.

First, I joined the CMS’s Lords of Misrule - a drama group, specializing in medieval and early modern texts and adaptations in original pronunciation. This is where I met Robert, and we were friends for nearly 20 years (I’ve covered that elsewhere - see here and here - so no more on that front today).

The second trajectory is my academic career.

During the practically obligatory post-doc wilderness of poorly-paid, short-term gigs - in my case, teaching at the Universities of York, Leeds, and Sheffield, and piecemeal research assistant/editorial contracts (all of which I loved, and all of which were extremely welcome) - and building a research and conference reputation, I eventually got onto the first leg of the Road to the Holy Academic Grail with a one-semester temporary lectureship at Newcastle University. Hurrah! The department also said that I should apply for a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship under their aegis. These are even rarer than academic jobs - not least because they are for all academic disciplines - so I was flattered and enthusiastic, but far from optimistic. Remarkably, however, a few months hence, I got home, way past midnight after a long day and commute, on the day that my temporary lectureship ended (aka: the day after my 40th birthday and my self-appointed deadline to finally call time on academic aspirations). With a heavy heart and a heavy suitcase (literally - it was full of marking), I poured a glass of wine, opened the post… and found a letter from the Leverhulme Trust saying that I’d been awarded a Fellowship. Hurrah!

I had a very happy two years at Newcastle, focussing on research, establishing myself on the national and international academic scene, developing teaching in my own fields of interest and expertise, and applying for every vaguely applicable permanent post. Just after my Fellowship ended, I finally achieved The Holy Grail, and was appointed Lecturer (and before long, Senior Lecturer) at the University of Lincoln - the first full-time medievalist in an exciting department which was very much making a name for itself, with the additional remit of establishing medieval history at Lincoln on the map.

It was glorious to be in one place for long enough to (a) see my students flourishing throughout their whole time at university,* (b) contribute to the development of something really special and exciting at an institutional and departmental level, & (c) be in a position to help upcoming scholars from other institutions throughout the world to navigate the painfully difficult waters of early-career academia.

*[My students were amazing and we all had enormous fun along with the hard work (well… OK. Not quite all, but I can literally count on the fingers of one hand those for whom I couldn’t make it thus. But given how many students I had over the years, that’s not a bad strike rate!), and I am so proud of them all. Quite a few have gone on to become respected academics and medievalists - at least one of whom apparently went for post-grad medieval history because of their sole medieval undergraduate module with me in the last year of their undergraduate degree. I’ll take that!]

Unfortunately, however, I eventually burned out due to a combination of many factors, including the ridiculous workload of academia (I’m not the first to succumb, and alas I’m not the last), the tolls of unavoidable long-term long-distance commuting, and, eventually major ill-health. I still miss many aspects of academia - primarily the continual joys of working with lovely students and the chance to forge even more friendships with wonderful people in the field - but it was time for a change.

<Fast-forward through attempts to resolve ill-health alongside tentative inroads into embryonic new career paths (including, variously, mentor to early-career/independent academics, foodie blogger, promotor of widening participation to university education, sales and presentation skills coach, and chronicler of things mid-life), and several major life-changes (most significantly, leaving my relationship of 30 years with a wonderful man)>…

One evening, out of the blue, it came to pass that my long-time friend and partner-in-crime (who’d been somewhat withdrawn for a while, but hey - peaks and troughs are par for the course in good friendships, non?) phoned me from York Hospital, because I was, it transpired, what he needed at a time of horrible crisis. I made my excuses to the lovely young man whom I’d just met for a first date, found a taxi (not the quickest task, as it was the day before Christmas Eve, but I was a woman on a mission), and headed straight to Robert and his beloved mother, who was in ICU.

Hmm… I seem to have taken us into sub-romcom territory. I’m not ruling out moving into fiction at some point, so I’ll keep my powder dry for now, lest I should want to mine subsequent events in another medium. If you’ve made it this far, I’m sure you’ll be (a) able to join the dots from then to now, and (b) pleased that I’m finally winding this up. So let’s go to the TL;DR headline news…

I have a lifelong interest in things cultural, an internationally-respected academic career in medieval history, lots of experience of doing all sorts of administration, a passing competence with technology (and a dogged determination to get to grips with tech which I’ve not yet mastered when necessary). More importantly, I love meeting people, and want to do whatever I can to make anyone’s life even a little bit more enjoyable.

I consider myself very lucky to be able to do this under the auspices of Wright History, and to have got to know so many fabulous and fabulously interesting people via Robert’s courses.

Onwards and upwards!