Lyle Skains

Dr Lyle Skains

  • Associate Professor in Health and Science Communication
  • WH
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Biography

Lyle (she/her) is an award-winning researcher and creative practitioner in Creative Digital Writing and Science Communication. She conducts practice-based research into writing, reading/playing, publishing digital and transmedia narratives, and how these can be used for health and science communication. Her recent digital fiction includes 'No World 4 Tomorrow' for the You & CO2 project, and 'Only, Always, Never' for the Infectious Storytelling project; both works were designed to effect social change. She is the founder of Wonderbox Publishing, which publishes speculative digital fiction, aiming to explore innovations in digital and online publishing and creativity. She is also the coordinator of the New Media Writing Prize, and an editor of the Electronic Literature Collection, volume 4. Her digital fiction can be found at lyleskains.com; articles in Convergence, Digital Creativity, and Computers and Composition; and books with Cambridge UP (Digital Authorship), Emerald (Using Interactive Digital Narrative for Health and Science Communication) and Bloomsbury (Neverending Stories: The Popular Emergence of Digital Fiction)...

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Journal Articles

Books

Chapters

  • Skains, R.L., 2023. THE INFLUENCE OF DIGITAL PLATFORMS ON AUTHORS OF ELECTRONIC LITERATURE AND INTERACTIVE DIGITAL NARRATIVES. The Routledge Companion to Literary Media. 209-220.
  • Chambers, A.C. and Lyle Skains, R., 2022. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY. The Routledge Handbook of Star Trek. 348-356.
  • Bom, I.V.D., Skains, L., Bell, A. and Ensslin, A., 2021. Reading hyperlinks in hypertext fiction : An Empirical Approach. Linguistic Approaches to Literature. 123-141.
  • Skains, R.L., 2018. Creative writing courses and the pragmatics of publishing. The Routledge Companion to Literature and Publishing. 152-169.
  • Ensslin, A. and Skains, L., 2017. Hypertext: Storyspace to Twine. In: Tabbi, J., ed. The Bloomsbury Handbook of Electronic Literature. London: Bloomsbury, 293-307.
  • Skains, L., 2014. In the Shadows of Gods: Representations and Treatments Otherness in the Novels of Neil Gaiman. In: Dunne, A. and O’Brien, G., eds. Good Madness: A Collection of Essays on the Work of Neil Gaiman. Witney: Inter-Disciplinary Press.
  • Skains, L., 2013. Streams Slipping in the Dark. Færwhile: A Journey Through a Space of Time.
  • Skains, L., 2013. Awake the Mighty Dread. Færwhile: A Journey Through a Space of Time.
  • Skains, L., 2009. Drowning Jonathan. In: Brooks, K. and Randall, M., eds. Florilegium. Oklahoma City: PegLeg Publishing, LLC.

Conferences

  • Skains, R.L., 2016. The Fragmented Digital Gaze: The Effects of Multimodal Composition on Narrative Perspective. Qualitative Inquiry, 22 (3), 183-190.
  • Skains, L., Bell, A., Ensslin, A. and Brown, J., 2016. Gaming the Composition: An ethnographic study on composing ergodic fiction. International Society for the Empirical Study of Literature, 6-9 July 2016.
  • Skains, L., 2015. Cultivating Postgraduate Research & Research Culture: Case Study of a "Taught" Journal Club Module. CELT Learning and Teaching Conference, Bangor University, 16 Sept 2015.
  • Skains, L., 2015. The Catastrophe of Science Fiction Since 1950: The Role Reversal of Science and the Supernatural in 20th & 21st Century Narratives. Stories About Science: Exploring Science Communication and Entertainment Media, University of Manchester, 4-5 June 2015.
  • Skains, L., 2015. The Practice of Research: A Methodology for Practice-Based Exploration of Digital Writing. Electronic Literature Organization, University of Bergen, 4-7 Aug 2015.
  • Skains, L., Lewis, A. and Muse, E., 2014. The Creative Practice Research Manifesto. Crisis in the Humanities, Durham University, 7-8 July 2014.
  • Skains, L., 2013. The Materiality of the Intangible: Literary Metaphor in Multimodal Texts. Electronic Literature Organization, 26 Sept 2013.
  • Skains, L. and Ensslin, A., 2012. The Material Trace in Electronic Technotext. Material Meanings, University of Kent, Sept 2012.
  • Skains, L., 2012. Fluid Texts and Implicit Collaboration in Electronic Narratives. Electronic Literature Organization, West Virginia University, June 2012.
  • Skains, L., 2011. The Story in the Medium: Reader Responses to Multimodal Fiction Narratives. Beyond Adaptation, De Montfort University, Jan 2011.
  • Skains, L., 2011. The Medium in the Story: How the Intent to Work in Digital Media Affects the Writer’s Practice. Great Writing, Imperial College London, June 2011.
  • Skains, R.L., 2010. The shifting author-reader dynamic: Online novel communities as a bridge from print to digital literature. Convergence, 16 (1), 95-111.
  • Skains, L., 2010. Stories as Real Estate: A New Paradigm for Publishing. Great Writing, Bangor University, June 2010.
  • Skains, L., 2010. Invited Transgression Against the Text: Masochism, or an Evolved Perception of Authorship? Transgressions and Its Limits, University of Stirling, May 2010.
  • Skains, L. and Chambers, A.C., 2010. Visualizing the Story from Text to Screen: Application of Film Adaptation Techniques to Digital Fiction. MeCCSA Postgraduate Conference, University of Glasgow, July 2010.
  • Skains, L. and Chambers, A.C., 2010. Visualizing the Story from Text to Screen: Application of Film Adaptation Techniques to Digital Fiction. Transliteracy Conference, Phoenix Square Digital Centre, February 2010.
  • Skains, L., 2009. Inside Out Empty: A digital story. Great Writing, Bangor University, 21 June 2009.
  • Skains, L., 2009. Beyond the Novelty: Creating Digital Fiction for Mainstream Audiences. Beyond Boundaries, Bangor University, 22 Jan 2009.

Reports

Scholarly Editions

Theses

Others

PhD Students

  • Julia-Anne O'Connor, 2027. A Subjective Exploration of Ethically Writing ‘The Dragon’s Scales’: A Young Adult Novel Positioned within a Morally Engaged Fantasy Tradition, (In progress)
  • Eoin Murray, 2020. The Meaning We Give It: Utopic Manifestation in Interactive Media
  • Levi Dean, 2020. An offer she can't refuse: Scripting the anti-heroine teleplay for the commercial market
  • Jordan Glendenning, 2021. Writing Transmedia Digital Fiction
  • Kristin Lissel, 2023. Writing Nordic Noir Fiction

External Responsibilities

  • United Kingdom Research & Innovation, Interdisciplinary Research Scheme, Reviewer (2023-)
  • Arts & Humanities Research Council, Peer Review College Member (2022-)

Qualifications

  • Recognition in Research Supervision (UK Council for Graduate Education, 2022)
  • Senior Fellowship in Teaching in Higher Education (Higher Education Academy, 2016)
  • PGCE in Teaching in Higher Education (Bangor University, 2015)
  • PhD in Creative Writing & Digital Media (Bangor University, 2014)
  • MFA in Professional Writing (University of Southern California, 2005)
  • BA (Hons) in Creative Writing (University of New Mexico, 2001)
  • BSc (Hons) in Equine Science (Texas A&M University, 1998)

Honours

  • N. Katherine Hayles Award for Criticism in Electronic Literature, for 'Neverending Stories: The Popular Emergence of Digital Fiction' (Electronic Literature Organization, 2023)

Networks

  • Media, Communication, and Cultural Studies Association
  • Electronic Literature Organization