A mature student I began my undergraduate degree aged 28. In my previous work as a nursery nurse one of my main responsibilities was encouraging children to learn through (often very) messy play. In an interesting parallel I have always thought of the research process as wonderfully messy, never tidy nor hygienic, as many historical methodological texts insisted it should be. I encourage those I teach and supervise to embrace the messiness and to ‘play with’ data in order to get the best out of it. Similarly, I exhort students and colleagues to present social scientific ideas (including research data) in creative ways. Of course it is essential (not least for credibility and promotion) to impress one’s academic peers. So research reports, articles, monographs and the like are all important, and I have written all of these and more. And yet just as I challenge the view that there is a ‘correct’ way to do research and produce credible academic knowledge I also refute the idea that there is a ‘proper’ way to write as an scholar. This is clear in my own writings.
We are all, can all be, creative if given the time and the space and support and encouragement. What we produce may not meet the approval, satisfy the taste, of all, but whether we write (paint, sculpt, sing, act…) for ourselves or for others, we should, if we want to, continue to do so and embrace the surprises that inevitably follow. All that is needed is our imagination and a little help to explore new ways of working, to experiment and to play.
All that is needed is our imagination and a little help to explore new ways of working, to experiment and to play.
Engaging in Creative Practices
My Practice
Published Books
Solo Authored
Jointly Authored
Edited Collections
Handbooks & Readers
Reflecting my eclectic interests, I have published extensively on a variety of substantive topics and on research method/odology.
Click on the title for more info:
Letherby, G. and Collett, T. (forthcoming 2025) Insults: social and emotional impacts 21st Century Standpoints Bristol: Policy Press
Parsons, J. and Letherby, G. (eds.) (forthcoming 2025) Methodological Innovations in Times of Crisis London: Routledge
Letherby, G. Marchbank, J. and Parsons, J. (eds.) (forthcoming 2026) Encyclopaedia of Gender Studies London: Edward Elgar
Forthcoming
Blog Posts
Whenever something is bothering me (either negatively or positively) I start to write.
Here are a few of my favourites. For the full blog click here
Fiction & Memoir
...still playing, still having fun.
My fiction and memoir writing began as part of the griefwork I undertook following two significant bereavements and were at first separate from my scholarly writings. Soon though I began to embed short pieces in my journal articles, book chapters and books. Some of the fiction and memoir I write is explicit sociological (written specifically to generate sociological knowledge), all of it is informed by my sociological self. In addition to pieces on loss and on love I write about, for example, in/equality and in/justice; food poverty and food sharing; kindness and community; solitude and many other issues and experiences that concern me. I enjoy experimenting with different genres. In 2020, for example, I wrote a group of stories for children focusing on living through lockdown and I’ve had a go at drama, comedy, murder mysteries and more. I’m still playing, still having fun. In addition to embedding my own creative writing in some of my academic outputs I regularly share my work with non-academic audiences, for example via an online writing forum gletherby | ABCtales
For some examples of my work in these areas, in both text and film, see...
Videos: Haunted Landscapes (ICAE Film Award 2024) & Hair Today
Journal Articles: Solitude & 30 Years
ABCtales: Shadowlands & Remembered Loves
