BILLY GRAY

Dr. Billy Gray is an Associate Professor in English Literature at Dalarna University, Sweden where he is coordinator of the MA programme in Irish Studies. He wrote his doctoral thesis on the influence of Sufism on the work of Doris Lessing and has published articles on diverse Irish writers such as Gary Mitchell, Joseph O'Neill, Patrick McCabe, Chris Arthur, Hubert Butler, Eoin McNamee  and Derek Lundy in international peer-review journals such as New Hibernian Review, The Canadian Journal of Irish Studiesand Etudes Irlandaises, and has also published articles on other writers such as Jenny Diski. In relation to his work on literary representations of ageing, he has previously published academic work on both Doris Lessing and J.M. Coetzee. He is one of the two general editors for the Nordic Irish Studiesjournal and is currently participating in a research project on Transcultural Literatures.

RESEARCH EXPERINCE IN AGEING STUDIES:

BOOK CHAPTERS:

• “‘Lucky the culture where the old can talk to the young and the young can talk to the old’: In conversation with Doris Lessing”. The Polemics of Ageing. Eds. Maria Vidal Grau and Nuria Casado Gual. Lleida: Publicacions de la Universitat de Lleida, 2004. 83-99.
• “If the Old Could/If the Young Knew’: Narrative, Biology and Ageing in the Works of Doris Lessing”. Women Ageing Through Literature and Experience. Ed. Brian Worsfold. Lleida: Publicacions de la la Universitat de Lleida, 2004. 43-51.
• “‘Your stay must be a becoming’: Ageing and Desire in J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace”. Flaming Embers: Literary Testimonies on Ageing and Desire. Ed. Nela Bureu Ramos. Brussels: Peter Lang, 2010. 67-85. ISBN: 978-3034304382

 MEMBER OF FUNDED RESEARCH PROJECTS:

• International research project “Live to Be a Hundred: Cultural Narratives of Longevity”, co-ordinated by Dr. Aagje Swinnen, Maastricht University, the Netherlands. (2010-2013).
• "Ageing and Gender in Contemporary Literary Creation in English," directed by Dr. Núria Casado Gual, Department of English and Linguistics, University of Lleida, Spain, and funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (2013-2015).
• 7th Framework Programme Project "Social Innovation on Active and Healthy Ageing for Sustainable Economic Growth, SIforAGE" (2012-2016).