Dr J. R. Carpenter

Profile

I joined University of Leeds in January 2024. I have a BFA in Studio Art from Concordia University in Montreal (1995). I worked in artist-run culture for many years. From 2006-2010 I was President of the Board of Directors of Oboro, and artist-run centre and media lab in Montreal. From 2010-2014 I was faculty mentor for In(ter)ventions: Literary Practice at the Edge, an experimental writing residency program at The Banff Centre. I have a PhD in Performance Writing from University of the Arts London (2015). I have been awarded Visiting Fellowships at The Moore Institute at NUI Galway (2019) and the Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library (2021). I have been a Writer in Residence at Ucross, Yaddo, The Vermont Studio Centre, The Banff Centre, Dartington College of Art, LICA Lancaster, University of Alberta, and University of York. From 2022-2023 I was a Research Fellow at Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton, working on the AHRC & DFG funded project Weather Reports – Wind as Model, Media, and Experience. 

Research interests

I am an artist, writer, lecturer, and practice-led researcher working across performance, print, and digital media. My work asks questions of place, displacement, migration, scientific colonialism, and climate crisis.

Recent critical writing includes: Text Generation and Other Uneasy Human-Machine Collaborations | Iperstoria (2024) and Wind Humanities: An Elemental Media Approach | Published in Media+Environment.

My most recent poetry collection, Measures of Weather (Shearsman Books 2025) was The Observer’s poetry book of the month for February 2025: Measures of Weather by JR Carpenter review – deft verse that offers a guiding light | Poetry | The Guardian

My previous collection, The Pleasure of the Coast, revels in the sketchy subjectivities lurking beneath the smooth surface of the science of imperial measurement, blurring colonial boundaries by calling attention to the messy moments and methods in which they were drawn. https://www.pamenarpress.com/product-page/le-plaisir-de-la-c%C3%B4te-the-pleasure-of-the-coast 

My hybrid print/digital project This is a Picture of Wind, grapples with the paradox presented by attempts to evoke through the materiality of language a force such as wind which we can only perceive indirectly through its affect. This is a Picture of Wind | Longbarrow Press

From 2022-203 I was a Research Fellow at Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton, working on the AHRC & DFG funded project Weather Reports – Wind as Model, Media, and Experience. This project investigates the nature of wind as model, media, and experience, triangulating embodied experience, data practices, and aesthetic production. Our aim is to contribute to a better understanding of what changes with climate change through the medium of wind, drawing on research from across the Environmental Humanities and Media Studies. Weather Reports (winds.report)

In 2022 I was Writer in Residence with Street Life, a public-facing project led by University of York, researching historic Coney Street. In this role, I wrote and letterpress printed a limited edition portfolio called Coney Street Life: A History of Right Now. Coney Street Life: A History of Right Now | StreetLife York

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Some research projects I'm currently working on, or have worked on, will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://ahc.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Qualifications

• PhD

Professional memberships

• ASLE
• a-n
• Electronic Literature Organization

Student education

I teach across English, Creative Writing, and Workshop Theatre.

<h4>Postgraduate research opportunities</h4> <p>We welcome enquiries from motivated and qualified applicants from all around the world who are interested in PhD study. Our <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk">research opportunities</a> allow you to search for projects and scholarships.</p>