BILLY GRAY

Dr. Billy Gray is an associate Teacher in English Literature at the University of Dalarna, Sweden, where he is coordinator of the Master in Irish Studies programme. He wrote his doctoral thesis about the influence of Sufism in Doris Lessing’s work and he has published articles about different Irish writers such as Gary Mitchell, Joseph O'Neill, Patrick McCabe, Chris Arthur, Hubert Butler, Eoin McNamee and Derek Lundy on an international level. He has written for review journals such as the New Hibernian Review, The Canadian Journal of Irish Studies and Etudes Irlandaises, also publishing articles about other writers such as Jenny Diski regarding ageing. He has published academic work both with Doris Lessing and J.M. Coetzee. He is one of the principal editors of the Nordic Irish Studies journal and is currently taking part in a research project about Transcultural literature.

Scientific Output:

“‘Lucky the culture where the old can talk to the young and the young can talk to the old’: In conversation with Doris Lessing”. The Polemics of Ageing. Eds. Maria Vidal Grau and Nuria Casado Gual. Lleida: Publicacions de la Universitat de Lleida, 2004. 83-99.

“If the Old Could/If the Young Knew’: Narrative, Biology and Ageing in the Works of Doris Lessing”. Women Ageing Through Literature and Experience. Ed. Brian Worsfold. Lleida: Publicacions de la la Universitat de Lleida, 2004. 43-51.

“‘Your stay must be a becoming’: Ageing and Desire in J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace”. Flaming Embers: Literary Testimonies on Ageing and Desire. Ed. Nela Bureu Ramos. Brussels: Peter Lang, 2010. 67-85. ISBN: 978-3034304382

International research project “Live to Be a Hundred: Cultural Narratives of Longevity”, co-ordinated by Dr. Aagje Swinnen, Maastricht University, the Netherlands. (2010-2013).

"Ageing and Gender in Contemporary Literary Creation in English," directed by Dr. Núria Casado Gual, Department of English and Linguistics, University of Lleida, Spain, and funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (2013-2015).

7th Framework Programme Project "Social Innovation on Active and Healthy Ageing for Sustainable Economic Growth, SIforAGE" (2012-2016).