Hannah Boast, co-editor

I am in my first year of a PhD at the University of York and the University of Sheffield, studying the politics and culture of water in Israel/Palestine.

My project is part of the interdisciplinary White Rose universities network on Hydropolitics: Community, Environment and Conflict in an Unevenly Developed World. I am co-supervised by English and Geography, which reflects my interest in the interactions between culture and the material world.

I previously gained an MA with Distinction from the University of York in Cultures of Empire, Resistance and Postcoloniality and a BA First Class in English Studies and Philosophy from the University of Nottingham.

My research and my work for WVoN both come from the same source, which is my belief in the need to unpick the ways in which unequal balances of power are inscribed into and reinforced by everyday practices.

I am involved in feminist activism in the real as well as the virtual world, and last November helped to put on Sheffield’s first LaDIYfest, which was an amazing weekend of feminist music, discussion and dancing.

The LaDIYfest collective is currently putting together the plans for our 2012 festival, as well as a programme of workshops and further opportunities for dancing that is running throughout the year. Please take a look at our WordPress or Facebook for updates and more info.

In my past life as a part-time pretend music journalist I wrote articles and reviews for Nottingham University’s indie music magazine The Mic, and for the music blog of York student radio. Now my writing is mostly serious, but I’m thinking about finding another outlet for my bad jokes and snarkiness.