Penn Newell

Penn Newell is a Lecturer in Creative and Critical Writing at Birkbeck, University of London, School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication. They serve as Programme Director for the BA in Creative Writing and English and contribute to the Birkbeck Institute of Gender and Sexuality steering committee.

Education:

• PhD in English Research, King's College London
• MA in Philosophy (Distinction), King's College London
• BA (Hons) in English Language & Literature, King's College London

Their research critically examines ecologies and climate through race, gender, and philosophy, analyzing racialization, border practices, surveillance, and Anthropocene logics via environmental thought. Current projects investigate geology, marine biology, and calciferous formations while connecting biophysics with post-1960s social theory. They recently completed a novel exploring speculative dimensions of the green industrial revolution.

Publications like the 2024 Social Text article on clay's role in maintenance ecology reveal intersections of materiality, critical race theory, and environmental justice. Their work consistently bridges creative-critical writing with analyses of militarized environmental practices against migrants and capitalist eco-conceptual orchestrations.

Penn supervises PhD research on geopoetics and justice in ammonia-related disasters and will convene the 2025-26 Calcification Network for researchers studying bone, shells, coral, and calcite formations. They actively participate in the British Academy London Early Career Researcher Network.