Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts

Staff Profile

Dr Theresa Muñoz

Research Associate: Contemporary Poetry

Background

PhD Scottish Literature, University of Glasgow

MLitt Creative Writing, University of Glasgow

B.F.A. Creative Writing, University of British Columbia 

I am Director of the Newcastle Poetry Festival and Research Associate in Contemporary Poetry. As Overseas Research Scholar and Faculty of Arts Award holder at the University of Glasgow, I completed my PhD dissertation "Alienation in the Work of Tom Leonard'. I have published one book of poems Settle (Vagabond Voices, 2016) which shortlisted for the Melita Hume Poetry Prize. I have been awarded a British Columbia Arts Council Award, Norman Rothstein Award for Poetry, Crichton Foundation Award, Muriel Spark Centenary Award, Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship, and Creative Scotland Project Grant. In 2022 I shortlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Sky Arts Award for my creative non-fiction. In 2023 I shortlisted for the Kavya Prize, Scotland's only award for writers of colour.

My poetry has been broadcast on BBC Scotland and has been published widely in Canada and the United Kingdom, including in Arc magazine, Canadian Literature, Poetry Review and Best Scottish Poems. My next collection will be published in 2025.

I have also managed several literary initiatives through the Newcastle Centre for Literary Arts/Bloodaxe Books, including the James Berry Poetry Prize, the first prize in the UK to offer mentoring and debut publication to emerging writers of colour. I have also been in the Writers Advisory Group for Literature Alliance Scotland and I have judged the Poetry Book of the Year Award for the Saltire Society Literary Awards.

Research

Archives; Mixed Race literature; Digital Literature; Minority Women's Writing. 

Teaching

Courses I have taught/guest lectured include: 

SEL1000: Introduction to Creative Writing

SEL2216: Poetry, Script and Prose Workshop 

MA in Poetry 

Publications