The Ceramics Reader: exploring ceramics and writing

This presentation is based upon a recent publication The Ceramics Reader (Bloomsbury Academic Press 2017) for which I was editor and also a contributing writer. It is envisaged that this presentation will investigate and reflect upon the interpretation of ceramics through writing and will draw on some of the six seven texts contained within the Reader. As an editor I will discuss the approaches to developing the Reader, reasoning for the content and structure and elucidate upon some of the themes that emerged from this comprehensive publication. The presentation will explore the editors thinking behind the selection of texts and the commissioning of new writing specifically for the Reader. Writing about ceramics has grown exponentially and has become more critical in approach, no doubt in response to the wider remit of clay/ceramics within the visual arts where boundaries have either 'expanded' or 'collapsed' depending upon your point of view. With this in mind this presentation will also explore this critically within the writing and the choices made by the editors in terms of reflecting within this Reader