My co-author Dr Liam Connell and I were hosted by Dr Christine Gessler on the The Academic Life podcast, part of the New Books Network, to talk about our 2021 book Your PhD Survival Guide: Planning, Writing and Succeeding in your Final Year.
Book
Your PhD Survival Guide coming in December 2020
Accessible, insightful and a must-have toolkit for all final year doctoral students, the founders of the ‘Thesis Boot Camp’ intensive writing programme show how to survive and thrive through the challenging final year of writing and submitting a thesis.
Drawing on an understanding of the intellectual, professional, practical and personal elements of the doctorate to help readers gain insight into what it means to finish a PhD and how to get there, this book covers the common challenges and ways to resolve them. It includes advice on:
- Project management skills to plan, track, iterate and report on the complex task of bringing a multi-year research project to a successful close
- Personal effectiveness and self-care to support students to thrive in body, mind and relationships, including challenging supervisor relationships.
- The successful ‘generative’ writing processes which get writers into the zone and producing thousands of words; and then provides the skills to structure and polish those words to publishable quality.
- What it means to survive a PhD and consider multiple possible futures.
Written for students in all disciplines, and relevant to university systems around the world, this unique book expertly guides students through the final 6–12 months of the thesis.
Pre-orders are now available from Routledge and all online booksellers.
New book published, Journeying with Bonhoeffer
A new book on the martyr, double agent, theologian and inspirational church leader, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, has just been published with Morning Star Press.
- Katherine Firth and Andreas Loewe hold their new book.
Co-authored with the Dean of Melbourne, this book has a new accessible biography of Bonhoeffer, new translations of his poems, close readings from the Bible and The Cost of Discipleship, reflections, prayers and questions for individual or group study.
Bonhoeffer wrote The Cost of Discipleship while leading an ‘underground’ seminary, in hiding from the Nazi government and the church leaders who supported Hitler.
The work is both timeless and timely. Next year, it will be 75 years since Bonhoeffer was executed in a concentration camp, and 75 years since the end of World War II. At the same time, people around the world are working against current oppression and exclusion.
A book launch will be held at St Paul’s Cathedral Melbourne on 24 November, followed by events in Sydney and other cities.
The book is available in paperback direct from the publisher, or most large online bookstores (including Amazon AU, Amazon UK, and Book Depository). Allow up to three weeks for books to be delivered (though our copies came through in 3 days!).
Australian book launch of How to Fix your Academic Writing Trouble
Katherine Firth, Inger Mewburn, and Shaun Lehmann, in Canberra.
It was a delight to visit Canberra during the first week in November for a book event celebrating our book How to Fix Your Academic Writing Trouble. The event was held at Harry Hartog’s bookshop at the Australian National University campus, and it was a wonderful chance to meet readers and for potential readers to meet us.
I wrote about the launch over on my blog Research Degree Insiders.
For more information about the book, including how to purchase it.
Academic Writing Trouble published
Academic Writing Trouble: Why it happens and how to fix it, Inger Mewburn, Katherine Firth and Sean Lehmann (London: Open University Press, 2019) is now published.
Read more about it here, including links to purchase the book.
If you subscribe to The Australian newspaper, you can read the interview with Inger Mewburn by Erica Cervini ‘Collaborative Guide to Clarity of Expression‘
Katherine Firth 