Professor & Author
Years at WHS
• 1982 -1986
Journey after School
After some time in India, I went on to study English at Politics at Flinders, and to do a Masters at Sussex in the UK. From there I went to do my PhD in the US, in Literature, and I’ve been working in universities around the world ever since then. I’ve taught in Canada, the US and the UK, and I’ve lived and studied in Germany too. I’m currently Professor and Head of the School of English at Copenhagen University.
Career highlights
I’d say my career highlights have been finishing my latest book, Reading and the Making of Time, and the kinds of travel and research invitations I’ve received in the last few years.
Favourite Subject
I was a pretty unhappy student socially but I did have some teachers I really liked. Katrina Bickford taught Classics and Mel Randall Geography, and I looked forward to their classes.
Favourite School memory
Some of my favorite memories are of doing my homework for their classes in the Willunga library, where I used to go after school and sit at the council table to work.
Advice to students
My advice to WHS students, and to all students I guess, would simply be to read, and not just the things you are assigned – whatever you are into, there are books about it, and wherever you are in the world today, you can access the very best of them. Travel is pretty great too. My brothers and I grew up in Willunga without much money or clear ambition but we did know how to find good books and that’s led to us all having pretty interesting lives.