Kate Kennedy (born 24 September 1977) is a British biographer, academic and BBC broadcaster, who specialises in the literature and music of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. She is the Associate Director of the Oxford Centre for Life-writing at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Early life and education

Born in Bristol, Kennedy attended the specialist music school, Wells Cathedral School, where she studied as a cellist. In 1996 she commenced studying Music and then English at

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...

. Despite a severe arm injury which affected her career as a cellist, in 2000 she was awarded a scholarship to the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

where she studied for a PgDip in advanced performance. She then completed a master's degree in twentieth century literature at King’s College, London, and freelanced as a baroque cellist in London, helping to found the orchestra

Southbank Sinfonia Southbank Sinfonia is a British chamber orchestra founded in 2002. Composed of young professionals from around the world, each year it brings together 33 graduate musicians for a programme of performance and professional development. The annual f ...

with its founder-conductor

Simon Over Simon Over attended King Henry VIII School in Coventry, UK. He subsequently studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, the Royal Academy of Music and the University of Oxford (at Keble College). From 1992 to 2002, Over was a member of the m ...

before returning to Cambridge in 2005 where she completed a PhD at Clare Hall on the

poet and composer Ivor Gurney.

Career

Kennedy has lectured in music and English at Girton College, Cambridge, where she received a Katherine Jex-Blake Research Fellowship as well as a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellowship. In 2016 she became a member of the English Faculty at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, where she is Associate Director of the Oxford Centre for Life-writing at Wolfson College (founded by Professor Dame Hermione Lee in 2011), and holds a Research Fellowship in Life-Writing.

Selected bibliography

* ''Ivor Gurney: Poet, Composer'' (Ivor Gurney Society Journal Special Issue, 2007) * ''The First World War: Literature, Music, Memory'' (Routledge, 2011) * ''The Silent Morning: Culture, Memory and the Armistice 1918'' (Manchester UP, 2013), co-editor with Trudi Tate * ''Literary Britten'' (Boydell and Brewer, 2018) * ''The Fateful Voyage'' (play script, 2018), starring Alex Jennings * ''Lives of Houses'' (Princeton University Press, 2020), co-editor with Hermione Lee) * ''Dweller in Shadows: A Life of Ivor Gurney'' (Princeton UP, 2021)

References

External links

Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, Kate 1977 births Living people Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Alumni of Clare Hall, Cambridge

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

Academics of the University of Oxford English biographers English critics Fellows of Wolfson College, Oxford