معرفی
Zoe Norridge is a Reader in African and Comparative Literature and Visual Studies at King's College London's Department of English Language & Literature. She serves as Department Impact Lead (2022-present) and previously held the position of Pro-Vice Dean for Impact in Arts & Humanities (2020-21). Her work focuses on contemporary arts and cultural responses to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, involving extensive collaboration with artists and genocide survivors.
Her educational background includes a Doctor of Literature from SOAS University of London (2007), Master of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge (2001), and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Cambridge (2000). Before her academic career, she worked in health promotion with NGOs in the UK and Papua New Guinea.
Norridge's research centers on African literature and photography, pain, memory, trauma, testimony, empathy, cultures of human rights, comparative approaches to genocide, and collaboration, community and love. She has developed significant expertise in Rwandan testimonial literature and visual culture, with fifteen years of research culminating in her forthcoming monograph Inside/Out Rwanda: Literature, Photography, Genocide and the Testimony of Place.
Her publications demonstrate consistent engagement with Rwandan genocide testimony, human rights cultures, and cross-continental connections, particularly between East Africa and Latin America. The recent publications show increasing focus on practical applications of her research through educational resources, trauma-informed guidelines, and community co-production.
- BBC AHRC New Generation Thinker (2011-12)
- Award-winning radio documentaries: Living with Memory in Rwanda (BBC Radio 3, 2014) and Rwanda's Returnees (BBC Radio 4, 2019)
- Longlisted for the Women's Prize Discoveries Prize for emerging creative writers (2022)
- Associate Editor at Wasafiri magazine (2014-present)
- Member of Holocaust Memorial Day Trust expert advisory group (2017-present)
Norridge has secured significant funding for collaborative work in Rwanda, including AHRC grants for 'Stories from Rwanda' and 'Rights for Time.' These projects have supported co-production of teaching resources, school guidelines, trauma-informed survivor speaker guidelines, policy briefings, and creative workshops. She teaches undergraduate courses on contemporary African love stories and testimony in the context of the Holocaust and Rwanda, as well as an MA module on human rights cultures, with a Certificate in Group Facilitation from the Gestalt Centre (2024) enhancing her approach to teaching emotionally demanding topics.
Her collaborative work extends to professional and participatory photography workshops in Kigali, Gisenyi and Musanze (2013, 2015, 2019, 2022), co-curating exhibitions, and programming events for the Kigali Photo Fest (2019). These initiatives form a cohesive team approach to engaging with Rwandan memory culture through multiple artistic and academic channels.
