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I am a Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in the Department of Information Studies at University College London, where I teach and research topics related to Publishing and Book Cultures. I joined UCL's DIS and the Centre for Publishing in September 2014. Prior to my appointment at UCL, I was a Lecturer in Publishing at Loughborough University, where I taught on a range of the core publishing modules on the Publishing and English undergraduate programme. I teach on the Publishing MA programme on the following modules: Publishing Contexts (Term One), Authorship (Term One), Publishing Ethics (Term Two), and Children's Publishing (Term Two).
My main research interest centres on contemporary authorship, publishing, and reading, with a focus on children’s and YA books. I am currently working on several projects that explore issues of ‘diversity’ and inclusivity in children’s and YA publishing. My book Inclusive Young Adult Fiction: Authors of Colour in the United Kingdom, was published with Palgrave (2019). Some of the results of this research project have appeared in the Guardian. Cambridge University Press will publish my book, Book Trade Activism and Anthologies: Advocating for Change in the UKYA Market, in 2019. I am working on a collaborative, interdisciplinary research project, Adolescent Identities with my research partner Dr Leah Phillips. This project investigates how YA reflects the realities of minoritised readers. We have been working closely with schools, libraries, and bookshops; hosting reading groups and focus groups with teenagers across the country; and engaging with the wider YA and bookish community online. Additionally, I am working in collaboration with the BookTrust, to examine the representation of children’s authors and illustrators of colour, published in the UK (2007–2017), and exploring ways of better supporting them.
In the past, I have researched digital developments in writing, publishing, and reading; small presses and alternative publishing; and copyright. I am also involved in a number of other collaborative research projects including an international, research project with Dr Corinna Norrick-Ruehl (Mainz University). This project investigates 'The Intercultural Transfer of Fiction between the UK and Germany, 1945-2010'. Other projects include two different studies of regional, small press publishing - funded by The Foundation for Canadian Studies and by a Scouloudi Historical Award - and, in collaboration with the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS), a review of rights ownership and remuneration for freelance journalists. Preliminary findings can be found here: A Free For All. I have also co-authored a Publishing Studies textbook ' The Publishing Business: A Guide to Starting Out and Getting on', which Bloomsbury published in 2018.I was a judge on the UKYA Book Prize in 2018, and am on the Advisory Boards for the CLPE Reflecting Realities project and the CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Children’s Book Awards.
The full report on my work Representation of people of colour among children’s book authors and illustrators can be found, and downloaded, here. The statistics are also summarised he
Additionally, I am working in collaboration with the BookTrust, to examine the representation of children’s authors and illustrators of colour, published in the UK (2007–2017), and exploring ways of better supporting them.
I welcome informal enquiries from prospective research students interested in Publishing and Book Studies related topics.
Contact Details
Email: m.bold@ucl.ac.uk
UCL extension: 51528
Direct Line: 020 (non-UK: +44 20 3108 1528 )
Fax: 020 3108 1528 (non-UK: +44 20 3108 1528)
Twitter: @ILoveCopyright and @YAIdentities
Website: https://www.adolescentidentities.com
Office: Ground Floor, Foster Court
Address correspondence to:
Dr Melanie Ramdarshan Bold
Department of Information Studies
University College London
Gower Street
London WC1E 6BT
UK