Biography
Dr Pete Freestone joined Edinburgh Napier University in 2021 as a Lecturer in Creative Writing.
Pete is the author of the Shadowscent fantasy duology (The Darkest Bloom, Crown of Smoke), first published in the UK and US, and subsequently translated into seven other languages. The Darkest Bloom was an Aurealis Awards finalist, and a Scottish Book Trust and DIVA Magazine Book of the Month. Pete's fantasy and science fiction short stories have appeared in various print and online venues including anthologies from Penguin.
A Clarion Writers’ Workshop graduate and a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award recipient, Pete has taught writing workshops and mentored writers for Scottish Book Trust, New Writing North, ArtLink Edinburgh, SCBWI, and more. Over the past decade they have also designed and delivered academic writing programmes for researchers across the world, with a particular emphasis on the PhD.
In addition to their creative practice, Pete holds degrees in archaeology, history and sociology. Their PhD (University of Melbourne) was located at the intersection of business management, global health and science and technology studies. This took them to the University of Edinburgh as a Commonwealth Scholar, and to undertake fieldwork in the UK, US, Canada and South Africa. It also embedded in them a belief in the capacity for interdisciplinarity to solve the thorniest problems.
Their current research and creative interests include:
- Speculative societies: examining the influence of fantasy and science fiction in the ‘real world’, with an emphasis on social justice and sustainability
- Fantasy flora and water wars: environmental humanities in fantasy and science fiction
- Genre worlds: commercial genre publishing, author careers, literary citizenship and fandoms
- Writing pedagogy and creative practice
Pete would be happy to consider potential PhD projects related to their research and creative interests.