Emily E. Roach 
PhD Candidate | Pop Culture Blogger | Writer

After working as a lawyer in London for over a decade, I returned to post-graduate study full time in 2016. I hold a B.A. Hons and M.A. (Oxon) in Jurisprudence from Oxford University, an M.A. in Children's Literature from Roehampton University (2012) and an M.A. in Contemporary Literature and Culture from the University of York (2017), where I am currently a PhD candidate. My thesis focuses on transgender performance poets on YouTube. Working at the intersections of queer theory, performance and media studies and focusing on space, time, motion / migration and politics, my thesis explores how spoken word offers a critical insight into twenty-first century transgender lives and highlights issues confronting transgender people in Trump-Era America.

​My broad areas of research include contemporary American fiction, LGBT fiction, slam and spoken word poetry, LGBT YA fiction, queer celebrity, fanfiction and fan communities. My cross-disciplinary research is driven by my interest in contemporary queer narratives and on this blog I primarily offer queer perspectives on pop culture, including film, television and pop music. I am a freelance writer and volunteer for several LGBT charities, with a particular focus on LGBT youth outreach and bisexuality.

In my spare time I can be found writing fiction under a pseud or getting my hair dyed again.

Media
Fansplaining Podcast.  Guest speaker.  Episode 37: Queer YA and Beyond also briefly featured in Episode 55: Happy Anniversary #2

Bi Dean Podcast. Guest Speaker. Episode 4: Is It 'Too Late' For Dean to Come Out? 

Bi Dean Podcast. Guest Speaker. Episode 5: Is It 'Fanservice' To Make Dean Bisexual?

Quoted
‘Too closure for comfort: the death of definitive TV endings’ by Zoe Williams, The Guardian, 24 April 2017

‘The final frontier: how sci-fi is becoming less male’ by Dan Martin, The Guardian, 9 May 2017 ​​

Book Chapters 
Haunted Families, Queer Temporalities and the Horror of Being Normal in The Haunting of Hill House  in The Streaming of Hill House: Essays on The Haunting Netflix Adaptation (forthcoming, 2020)

Homoerotics and the Meta-Textual Fangirl in Supernatural (forthcoming, 2020)

Supernatural: Wincest, Destiel and Dean Winchester's Bisexual Panic in Queerbaiting and Fandom: Teasing Fans Through Homoerotic Possibilities ed. Joseph Brennan (November, 2019)

Polyjuice, Potterheads and the Changing Face of Harry Potter Fandom: From LiveJournal to Tumblr in Fan Phenomena: Harry Potter ed. Valerie Estelle Frankel, Intellect Ltd, 2019

AIDS, Homophobia and the Monstrous Upside Down: The Queer Subtext of Stranger Things in Uncovering Stranger Things: Essays on Eighties Nostalgia, Cynicism and Innocence in the Series ed. Kevin J. Wetmore, Jr., McFarland & Company, Inc., 2018

Harry Potter and the Cursed Closet: Queerbaiting, Slash Shipping, and ‘The Cursed Child' in Harry Potter and Convergence Culture: Essays on Fandom and the Expanding Potterverse ed. Amanda Firestone and Leisa A. Clark, McFarland & Company, Inc., 2018

Epilogue? What Epilogue? Re-visioning the Harry Potter Canon in Fanon, Harry Potter Still Recruiting, Winged Lion Press, 2012

Academic Journals
The Homoerotics of the Boyband, Queerbaiting and RPF in Pop Music Fandoms, Journal of Fandom Studies, Volume 6, Issue 2, 2018)

The Class Divide: Creditors Fight for Equality as the SIVs Collapse, International Insolvency Law Review, Volume 2, 2010

Conference Papers
Allies, Advocacy and Appropriation: Bisexuality in Twenty-First Century Pop, Celebrity Studies Conference, University of Winchester (June 2020, forthcoming)

Boybands and the Pink Pound: From '90s Homoerotics to One Direction and Homosocial Desire, Queer Celebrity Conference, University of Portsmouth (June 2019)

Transgender Performance Poetry and The Ghosts of Childhood, Queer Art of Feeling Conference, University of Cambridge (May 2019)

This Paper is Problematic: The Impact of Changing Platforms on Fandom Content, Fan Studies Network Conference, Cardiff University (June 2018)

Tales of the City: America's Queer Geographies in Gay Male Authored Fiction, York Explore Library (2018)

Homoerotics, Homonormativity and Big Gay Hogwarts: Queer Perspectives on the Internet's Biggest Slash Fandoms, University of York (2018)

Queer Temporalities and Gay Male Identities in Twenty-First Century American YA Fiction, University of Northampton (2017)

Queerbaiting, Queer Coding and Queer Visibility from Sherlock to Stranger Things, University of York (2017)

Harry Potter and the Quest for Family: Heteronormativity and Homonormativity in Canon and Fandom, ‘Leviosa’ Harry Potter convention, Las Vegas (2016)

Queer Identity in Contemporary YA Fiction at ‘Let’s Hear it for the Girls’ interdisciplinary conference, Warwick University (2016)

All Publicity is Good Publicity? On Selling and Silencing Fanfiction at the ‘Annual Great Creative Writing Conference,’ Imperial College London (2015)

Sexualising Severus Snape: Slashing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at ‘Magic is Might’ international academic conference exploring the cultural influence of the Harry Potter books and films, University of Limerick (2012)

Cross-Border Fannish Interaction: The Boundless Internet and Participatory Culture in the Harry Potter Fandom at ‘Cross Boundaries: Translations and Migrations’ the 33rd IBBY International Congress, Imperial College (2012)

Queer Pleasure, Pornography and Romance in Participatory Culture: Slashing and Shipping the ‘Boy Who Lived’ at ‘The Pleasures of Romance’ Fourth Annual International Conference on Popular Romance Studies, University of York (2012)

Dealing with Death: Tough Topics in Poetry for Children at the IBBY/NCRCL Annual Conference, Roehampton University (2011)

Gay Gryffindors and Slashy Slytherins:  Feminism and Gender, Pornography and Romance in Slash Fiction at DiaconAlley, a Harry Potter fan convention at the University of Kent (July 2011)

Numerous panel roles at fan conventions, including Nine Worlds Geek Fest (London, England (2012, 2013, 2015)), Dragon*Con (Atlanta, Georgia, USA (2012)) and Leviosa (Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (2016)).  Panel topics have included queering popular culture, slash fiction and feminism, ageism and body image in femmeslash, writing the taboo and queer representation in young adult fiction. 

Volunteer Work
  • York LGBT Forum - Bisexuality Subgroup Coordinator (2016 - present)
  • York LGBT Forum - Schools and Young People Subgroup Coordinator (2016 - present)
  • York LGBT History Month - Assistant Coordinator (2017, 2018)
  • Stonewall - Bi Role Model and Schools Role Model