James Rann

Dr James Rann (commonly known as Jamie Rann) is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Modern Languages & Cultures at the University of Glasgow. His academic career spans multiple UK institutions including the universities of Birmingham, Oxford, Queen Mary University of London, and UCL, where he completed his doctoral research at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies.

Dr Rann's research centers on Russophone modernist literature, particularly Futurism in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union. His first book, The Unlikely Futurist (2020), examined originality in avant-garde poetry from 1910-1930. His scholarly interests encompass lifewriting, nonsense literature, literature and architecture, and the influence of Russian modernism on Scottish literature through translation into Scots. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, his work has pivoted toward practical applications including creative workshops for Ukrainian refugees in Glasgow (Власними словами | In Our Own Words) and rethinking approaches to Russian studies (From the Ground Up).

His extensive publication record demonstrates expertise across Russian literary modernism, contemporary cultural analysis, and translation studies. Recent work shows particular attention to Ukrainian resistance, multilingual expression, and decolonial perspectives on Russian studies.

As an educator, Dr Rann teaches Russian language for beginners, Russian Culture courses, translation from Russian, and topics including fairy tales, Soviet cinema, and concepts of space in global modernism. He actively supervises PhD students on projects related to early Soviet literature, Russophone poetry, clothes and culture in Russian contexts, and literary translation.

• Co-convenor of Histories and Subjectivities research cluster
• Co-convenor of Modernism, Avant-Garde and Twentieth-Century Literature and Culture cluster
• Member of Advisory Board for the Edwin Morgan Trust