PhD project: Made Up: Memoirs and Clothes – a creative and critical exploration of working-class women’s writing and identity in contemporary Britain.
Supervisors: Dr Nicola Wilson (Reading) and Dr Hatty Nestor (Reading)
Sharla’s thesis investigates how memoir writing about clothing can enrich understanding of class identity. Through memoir writing and factual and literary research, the research will contribute to the field of working-class life writing by casting light on the prejudice affecting women of low socioeconomic status.
In 2023 she completed an MA in Creative Writing with Distinction at the University of Hull. Her final creative portfolio was a memoir and cultural study in fragmented narrative.
In 1994 Sharla graduated from Middlesex University with a BA in Sociology & English Literary Studies (2:1). Her final dissertation investigated radical lesbian feminism.