Rate My Professor Jo Parnell

Dr Jo Parnell, known professionally as Annette Parnell, serves as an Honorary Lecturer in the School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Science, College of Human and Social Futures, at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Philosophy, Bachelor of Arts (Honours), and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Newcastle. Her doctoral thesis, 'Creative empathy: how writers turn experience not their own into literary non-fiction' (2013), and master's thesis, 'The Carpet Child' (2010), reflect her deep engagement with creative nonfiction. Parnell's research specializations encompass creative writing, English literature, literary history, and literary docu-memoir—a distinctive form of creative nonfiction that integrates audio-taped life experiences from ordinary people, blending life writing, narrative, memoir, and documentary elements. She emphasizes a non-judgmental approach fostering empathy and reflection, allowing subjects to voice their own stories. Influenced by authors like Helen Garner, Tony Parker, Sheila Stewart, and Catherine Cookson, Parnell has pioneered adaptations of Tony Parker's methods under the mentorship of Emeritus Professor Hugh Craig. As a reviewer, essayist, memoirist, conference speaker, and editor, her work has appeared in national and international publications.

Parnell's career highlights include significant editorial contributions to cross-disciplinary studies on family representations in literature, film, drama, television, and screen. Key publications feature edited collections: Representations of the Mother-in-Law in Literature, Film, Drama, and Television (Lexington Books, 2018); New and Experimental Approaches to Writing Lives (Macmillan International Higher Education, 2019); The Bride in the Cultural Imagination: Screen, Stage, and Literary Productions (Lexington Books, 2020); Cultural Representations of the Second Wife: Literature, Stage, and Screen (Lexington Books, 2023); and Writing Australian History On-Screen: Television and Film Period Dramas "Down Under" (2023). Notable chapters include 'Translating and conveying the damaging childhood in Our Kate' in Catherine Cookson Country: On the Borders of Legitimacy, Fiction and History (Ashgate, 2012), selected as a central piece in this pioneering textbook. Journal articles comprise 'Literary (creative nonfiction) docu-memoir: a different way of writing a life' (European Journal of Life Writing, 2014), 'Report on the Inaugural Asia-Pacific Chapter Conference' (2016), and 'Translating metaphor: Understanding experience' (Humanity, 2012). Creative works such as 'The houses that cried' (2012) further demonstrate her versatility. Currently, she develops a sole-authored collection of creative short stories from real-life experiences alongside forthcoming edited volumes.