Kirsty Fairclough is Reader in Screen Studies at the School of Digital Arts, Manchester Metropolitan University and Chair of Manchester Jazz Festival.
She has published widely on popular culture and am the co-editor of The Music Documentary: Acid Rock to Electropop (Routledge), The Arena Concert: Music, Media and Mass Entertainment (Bloomsbury) and Music/Video: Forms, Aesthetics, Media. New York, (Bloomsbury) and author of the forthcoming Beyoncé: Celebrity Feminism and Popular Culture (I.B Tauris) and co-author of American Cinema: A Contemporary Introduction (Palgrave).
Her work has been published in Senses of Cinema, Feminist Media Studies, SERIES and Celebrity Studies journals and she has made several television and radio appearances.
Kirsty has lectured internationally on popular culture, feminism and representations of women most notably at The Royal College of Music, Stockholm, The University of Copenhagen, Second City, Chicago, Columbia College Chicago, Middle Tennessee State University, Unisinos Brazil and Bucknell University, Pennsylvania.
She has significant experience in international partnership development, particularly in North America and developed the Salford Popular Culture Conference series with international partner universities, including I’ll See You Again in 25 Years, Twin Peaks and Generations of Cult Television: A Two Day International Conference (University of Salford, May 2015) and Mad Men: The Conference (Middle Tennessee State University, May 2016) and Purple Reign: An interdisciplinary conference on the life and legacy of Prince, a three day international academic conference hosted by the School of Arts and Media, University of Salford, UK and the Department of Recording Industry, Middle Tennessee State University, USA.
I am delighted to announce that I have been appointed to the Greater Manchester Music Commission established by Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham to support the music industry across the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. I’ll be joining an incredible group of people making change for our region and promoting Greater Manchester music nationally and […]
Special Issue of the Intellect Journal Interactions: Studies in Communication and Culture: ‘Dream Factories: Prince, Sign O’ The Times, Box Sets & Cultural Artefacts.’ Deadline for abstracts: Friday 28 May 2021. Deadline for final submission: Friday 8 October, 2021. The guest editors – Dr Kirsty Fairclough (Manchester Metropolitan University) and Prof. Mike Alleyne (Middle Tennessee […]
It was a delight to talk to Sam Bleazard for his Comms from the Shed podcast series where Sam talks to a range of diverse voices about their response to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, their health and wellbeing, creativity in adverse times, and our shared hopes for the future.
After three years of development, I am absolutely delighted to announce the publication of Prince and Popular Music. The book emerged from the world’s first conference on the life and legacy of Prince which myself and Professor Mike Alleyne organised at the University of Salford. In this text, we provide an academic examination of Prince, […]
It feels odd to share good news when so many people are suffering, but it’s now official, I’m moving on from the University of Salford in July. Salford has been such a massive part of my life- over half in fact! Back in 1995, as an undergraduate Media and Performance student, I fell in love […]
Due to disruptions caused by the current Coronavirus crisis, we have extended the deadline for abstracts for the 25th September 2020 symposium- Supermodels of the World: RuPaul’s Drag Race as International Phenomenon. Dependent on further developments, online participation may become our primary method for all to engage in this one day event. We will, of […]
In 2016, I co-organised Mad Men: The Conference at Middle Tenneesee State University, near Nashville, Tennessee, USA. The conference brought together scholars from around the world to discuss the cultural impact of the television series. This book is a collection of essays from the conference and is dedicated to the memory of Professor David Lavery, […]
It was a pleasure to interview Noel Gallagher at the iconic venue of Salford Lads Club – which is run by volunteers – with all profits from the evening going to support the youth club and the building itself. Tickets sold out in just one minute. Former Manchester City player Paul Lake introduced the event. […]
It was a pleasure to join host Anna Smith, BBC Asian Network’s Ashanti Omkar and Waad al-Kateab, director of the incredible documentary For Sama, to review current releases and discuss classic films from a female perspective. We previewed HOME’s Not Just Bollywood season, Jeanie Finlay’s Seahorse and paid tribute to the great Juliette Binoche by […]
Sound and Vision: Pop Stars on Film, July-August 2019 From the relatively early days of cinema, popular music figures have made forays into acting. Sound and Vision: Pop Stars On Film offers an overview of some of the most influential performances from a diverse range of cultural icons. Co-curated by Dr. Kirsty Fairclough, University of […]
Dr Kirsty Fairclough 