Head of People Success

Jennifer Young came to Falmouth in 2019 to take up the post of Head of Writing and Journalism. She originally moved from the US to complete a MA in Creative Writing at Cardiff University, and then completed a PhD at Southampton University. She worked at the University of Hertfordshire for thirteen years, as a senior lecturer in Creative Writing and an Associate Dean in the School of Humanities. She was appointed Associate Professor of Creative Writing in 2023. 

In 2024, she took up the newly created role of Head of People Success. The role focuses on bringing together our wellness and wellbeing support strategies, with an emphasis on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives. She works closely across all stakeholders, at a whole university level, to foster a thriving and inclusive community and enact real positive change in line with our mission, vision and values fulfilling our people commitment to staff and student success.

External Links

Dr Jennifer Young staff picture

Contact details

Telephone 01326370409

Qualifications

Qualifications

Year Qualification Awarding body
2010 PhD Southampton University
2002 MA Cardiff University
1998 BA University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Honors and awards

Year Description
2016

Debut Novel Prize, Cinnamon Press

2023

Advisory Group Panel member, QAA Creative Writing Subject Benchmark Statement
 

2022

Elected Chair    NAWE HE Committee (2022-2024)
 

Research Interests

Research interests and expertise

Her research interests centre on genre fiction, particularly historical and crime fiction. She has completed a trilogy of historical thrillers set in the UK in 1952 to 1953. The first of these, Cold Crash, won the Cinnamon Press debut novel prize. The Running Lie came out in 2020, and A Little Switch was published in 2022. 

Her historical thriller trilogy delves into the 1950s through an examination of the role of women, particularly in heritage professions. Her interest in historical fiction rose out of externally funded projects with colleagues in history and pedagogical research with colleagues in archaeology, as the links between heritage and creativity fascinate her. 

She is currently working on a paranormal cozy crime novel.

Research Topics

  • Creative Writing
  • Historical fiction
  • Archaeology
  • Genre
  • Crime
  • Pedagogy

Research Outputs

Publications and research outputs

  • Young, Jennifer

    (2022), A Little Switch, Cinnamon Press, Birmingham UK, ISBN: 978-1-78864-122-7, Item availability may be restricted.
  • Young, Jennifer

    (2020), The Running Lie, Cinnamon Press, Blaenau Ffestiniog, ISBN: 978-1-78864-076-3, Item availability may be restricted.
  • Young, Jennifer

    (2017), Cold Crash, Cinnamon Press, Blaenau Ffestiniog, ISBN: 978-1910836-77-4, Item availability may be restricted.
  • Garcia Rangel, Sherezade

    Young, Jennifer, (2019), Debate and Game: The Relevant Britain Literary Award – Enabling students to discuss contemporary issues in a safe and engaging way, In: NAWE Conference 2019, 8-10 November 2019, York, (Unpublished), Item availability may be restricted.
  • Garcia Rangel, Sherezade

    (2019), On The Hill podcast – Season One: Falmouth Cemetery, Falmouth University

Research Students

Previous student supervision

Jane Moss, Joined Up Writers: How can the novel be a vehicle for community participation?, 2024.

Duncan Yates, Visions of Carn Brea: The Labouring-Class Poetry of John Harris (1820-1884), 2023.

Jamie Popowich,  'Chrome Kisses: a comedy about real estate in an age of exploding glass' (creative project); 'Nobody Moves -- Charles Willeford's Hardboiled Immovable Heroes', University of Hertfordshire, 2019.

Nicholas Waters, 'Strive: Social Anxiety in Cyberpunk Detective Fiction', University of Hertfordshire, 2019.

Number of research students supervised to completion

4

Teaching

Areas of teaching

  • Creative Writing
  • English

Courses taught

  • Creative Writing BA(Hons), English with Creative Writing BA(Hons), Professional Writing MA

Professional Engagement

Engagement with professional associations and societies

  • Society of Authors
  • National Association of Writers in Education
  • Crime Writers Association
  • Sisters in Crime
  • She also works with Helen Lederer on the Comedy Women in Print (CWIP) prize, which offers both published and unpublished categories. Jennifer was the head judge for the unpublished category in 2022. Other external partners have included Luton Museum, the Society of Antiquaries and the International Cocoa Organisation.

Professional esteem indicators

Year Description
2016 Cinnamon Press Debut Novel Prize