Dr Alexander Howard
Senior Lecturer
Discipline of English and Writing
Dr Howard joined the University of Sydney in February 2018. Prior to that, he held a Visiting Research Fellowship in the School of Literature, Art and Media at Sydney. Dr Howard previously worked as a Lecturer in English here at Sydney, and as Associate Lecturer in Modernism Studies at the University of New South Wales, Australia (where he also worked as a Lecturer in English and Film Studies).
Dr Howard is currently working on three main research projects. The first, which bears the working title Fictions of Austerity, considers the relationship between cultural production and the politics and economics of austerity. The second deals with the historical and stylistic development of American film criticism, with a working title of Every Writer Their Own Style: The History of American Film Criticism. The third focuses on the work of the contemporary filmmaker Olivier Assayas.
- 2019 The University of Sydney Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award
Project title | Research student |
---|---|
Whole New Worlds: The Effect of Simulation Technology on Post-Digital Cinema and Entertainment | Michael CHIAN |
Selected publications
Publications
Books
- Howard, A. (2017). Charles Henri Ford: Between Modernism and Postmodernism. London: Bloomsbury. [More Information]
Book Chapters
- Howard, A. (2022). Canto 84. In Richard Parker (Eds.), Readings in the Cantos: Volume 2, (pp. 281-300). SC, United States: Liverpool University Press. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2022). Queering Faulkner: Content, Structure, Failure. In Sarah Gleeson-White and Pardis Dabashi (Eds.), The New William Faulkner Studies, (pp. 117-135). New York: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2021). Gossip from Abroad, or, Why Historicise Modernism? In Matthew Feldman, Anna Svendsen and Erik Tonning (Eds.), Historicizing Modernists: Approaches to 'Archivalism', (pp. 203-214). London: Bloomsbury. [More Information]
Journals
- Howard, A., Murphet, J. (2022). Transferring 'Suspiria': Historicism and Philosophies of Psychoanalytic Transference. Film-Philosophy, 26(1), 63-85. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2019). Beyond capitalist realism. Cultural Studies Review, 25(1), 189-192. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2018). Mr. Pound Goes to Washington. Glossator: Practice and Theory of the Commentary, 10, i-xii. [More Information]
Edited Journals
- Howard, A. (2018). Astern in the Dinghy: Commentaries on Ezra Pound's Thrones de los Cantares 96-109. Glossator: Practice and Theory of the Commentary, 10. [More Information]
Magazine / Newspaper Articles
- Howard, A. (2025). 'The complicated zone where the beautiful and the damned collide': remembering David Lynch. The Conversation. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2025). Ecology of Fear: Mike Davis' history of LA and natural disaster is re-read whenever fire rages in California. The Conversation. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2025). Genius, madman or both? Japanese literary icon Yukio Mishima died leading a coup. He would have been 100 today. The Conversation. [More Information]
Other
- Howard, A. (2024), Punk Rock's Great Celtic Lyricist: Farewell to Shane McGowan (Georgian). Blog post. [More Information]
2025
- Howard, A. (2025). 'The complicated zone where the beautiful and the damned collide': remembering David Lynch. The Conversation. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2025). Ecology of Fear: Mike Davis' history of LA and natural disaster is re-read whenever fire rages in California. The Conversation. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2025). Genius, madman or both? Japanese literary icon Yukio Mishima died leading a coup. He would have been 100 today. The Conversation. [More Information]
2024
- Howard, A. (2024). 'An ideas novel that’s not boring': Rachel Kushner's revolutionary spy novel reflects on our hurtle towards extinction. The Conversation. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2024). 'Fake news of the highest order': Donald Trump team refutes racism revelations in new family memoir. The Conversation. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2024). 100 years of surrealism: how a French writer inspired by the avant-garde changed the world forever. The Conversation. [More Information]
2023
- Howard, A. (2023). 'This is the way the world ends': Nevil Shute's On the Beach warned us of nuclear annihilation. It's still a hot-button issue. The Conversation. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2023). Atlas Shrugged: Ayn Rand's hero burns the world down when he doesn't get his way. Her fans run the world - should we worry? The Conversation. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2023). Belvoir's The Master and Margarita: astonishingly ambitious, physically demanding and a resounding success. The Conversation. [More Information]
2022
- Howard, A. (2022). Canto 84. In Richard Parker (Eds.), Readings in the Cantos: Volume 2, (pp. 281-300). SC, United States: Liverpool University Press. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2022). Queering Faulkner: Content, Structure, Failure. In Sarah Gleeson-White and Pardis Dabashi (Eds.), The New William Faulkner Studies, (pp. 117-135). New York: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2022). The case for American Psycho: why this controversial book (sold here in shrink wrap) still matters. The Conversation. [More Information]
2021
- Howard, A. (2021). Gossip from Abroad, or, Why Historicise Modernism? In Matthew Feldman, Anna Svendsen and Erik Tonning (Eds.), Historicizing Modernists: Approaches to 'Archivalism', (pp. 203-214). London: Bloomsbury. [More Information]
2020
- Howard, A. (2020). Cocks, Corsets, Clocks: E. L. Doctorow and the Tunnel of Love. In Michael Wutz, Julian Murphet (Eds.), E.L. Doctorow: A Reconsideration, (pp. 148-175). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. [More Information]
2019
- Howard, A. (2019). Beyond capitalist realism. Cultural Studies Review, 25(1), 189-192. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2019). Solid Objects and Modern Tonics, or, who's Afraid of the Big Camp Woolf? In Guy Davidson, Monique Rooney (Eds.), Queer Objects, (pp. 32-47). Abingdon: Routledge. [More Information]
2018
- Howard, A. (2018). Annotated Bibliography of Selected Criticism. In Ulrika Maude and Mark Nixon (Eds.), The Bloomsbury Companion to Modernist Literature, (pp. 469-520). London: Bloomsbury. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2018). Astern in the Dinghy: Commentaries on Ezra Pound's Thrones de los Cantares 96-109. Glossator: Practice and Theory of the Commentary, 10. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2018). Canto 13. In Richard Parker (Eds.), Readings in the Cantos, (pp. 135-144). Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. [More Information]
2017
- Howard, A. (2017). Charles Henri Ford: Between Modernism and Postmodernism. London: Bloomsbury. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2017). Keep on Waking: Charles Henri Ford, Camp, and Surrealism. Miranda, 14, 1-28. [More Information]
2016
- Howard, A. (2016). Camp, Modernism and Charles Henri Ford. Modernism/Modernity, 23(1), 9-13. [More Information]
2014
- Howard, A. (2014). Charles Henri Ford's Blues: A magazine of new rhythms and the belated renovation of modernism. The Journal of Modern Periodical Studies, 5(2), 161-195. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2014). Compacts, Commerce, and a Few Remarks Concerning Andrew Crozier. In Richard Parker (Eds.), News from Afar: Ezra Pound and Some Contemporary British Poetries, (pp. 109-121). Bristol: Shearsman Books. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2014). Light Enough Against Darkness? Historicizing Ezra Pound. Affirmations: Of the Modern, 2(1), 128-154. [More Information]
2012
- Howard, A. (2012). Into the 1930s. In Peter Brooker and Andrew Thacker (Eds.), The Oxford Critical and Cultural History of Modernist Magazines Volume II: North America 1894-1960, (pp. 347-370). Oxford: Oxford University Press. [More Information]
- Howard, A. (2012). Returning the Gift. In Matt Foley, Neil McRobert and Aspasia Stephanou (Eds.), Transgression and its Limits, (pp. 109-120). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
2011
- Howard, A. (2011). Charles Henri Ford's Blues and Regionalism. Journal of American Studies, (18). [More Information]
In the media
- 21/02/2025 - article from The Conversation republished on Asia Times: What if a sitting US president becomes dangerously unstable?
- 20/02/2025 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News: What if a sitting US president becomes dangerously unstable?
- 20/02/2025 - article from The Conversation republished in Johansen: What if a sitting US president becomes dangerously unstable?
- 10/02/2025 - article from The Conversation republished on HipHopCanada: Kanye Hitler Views Have Been Linked to Proud Boys Founder
- 30/01/2025 - article from The Conversation republished on igluu: Recordando a David Lynch en el lugar en el que ‘chocan lo bello lo maldito’
- 25/01/2025 - guest on ABC Radio National "Nightlife": Remembering David Lynch: The great American surrealist
- 21/01/2025 - article from The Conversation republished on WORLDCRUNCH: Let L.A. Burn? How A Marxist Historian Tried To Warn California About Its Fire Risk
- 17/01/2025 - quoted in The Conversation: Why LA is on fire (it’s not just climate change)
- 14/01/2025 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News: Genuis, madman or both? Japanese literary icon Yukio Mishima died leading a coup. He would have been 100 today
- 14/01/2025 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News: Ecology of Fear: Mike Davis' history of LA and natural disaster is re-read whenever fire rages in California
- 14/01/2025 - article from The Conversation republished on MSN.com: Ecology of Fear: Mike Davis' history of LA and natural disaster is re-read whenever fire rages in California
- 20/12/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on What's Up Newp: Best Books of 2024: Experts at The Conversation share their standout reads
- 11/12/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on NDTV.com: Best Books Of 2024: The Most Recommended Reads Of The Year
- 04/12/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on YourLifeChoices: Best Books of 2024: our experts share their standout reads
- 04/12/2024 - interviewed in The Conversation: Best Books of 2024: our experts share their standout reads
- 26/11/2024 - article from The Conversation republished in Johansen: 'The Magic Mountain is a sweeping critique of totalitarian Europe. 100 years later, its warnings feel urgent'
- 24/11/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News: 'The Magic Mountain is a sweeping critique of totalitarian Europe. 100 years later, its warnings feel urgent'
- 01/11/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News: The Proud Boys founder counselled Kanye West about Hitler. John Safran has the lowdown
- 23/10/2024 - interview on 774 ABC Radio Melbourne 'Evenings' about the 100th anniversary of surrealism
- 19/10/2024 - interviewed on 936 ABC Hobart 'Nightlife with Philip Clark' about surrealism (widely syndicated)
- 19/10/2024 - interviewed on ABC Radio Sydney 'ABC Weekend Evenings'about the 100th anniversary of surrealism
- 15/10/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News: '100 years of surrealism: how a French writer inspired by the avant-garde changed the world forever'
- 15/10/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News: 'Free speech "prophet" Michel Houellebecq is a fan of Trump and Brexit. His satirical final novel predicts political chaos'
- 22/09/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on Scroll.in: Booker Prize review: Rachel Kushner’s spy novel ‘Creation Lake’ shows us hurtling towards extinction
- 20/09/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News: 'Friday essay: We all live in the world of Ayn Rand, egomaniac godmother of libertarianism. Can fiction help us navigate it?'
- 16/09/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News:‘An ideas novel that’s not boring’: Rachel Kushner’s revolutionary spy novel reflects on our hurtle towards extinction
- 22/08/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News: Best Australian books of the 21st century: as chosen by 50 experts
- 22/08/2024 - interviewed and a contributor in The Conversation article: Best Australian books of the 21st century: as chosen by 50 experts
- 14/08/2024 - article from The Conversation republished in The Daily Bulletin: 'Fake news of the highest order': Donald Trump team refutes racism revelations in new family memoir
- 09/08/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News: 'Fake news of the highest order': Donald Trump team refutes racism revelations in new family memoir
- 02/08/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News: Joanna Murray-Smith's new adaptation of Uncle Vanya reminds us Chekhov's play is both timeless and timely
- 02/08/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on Evening Report:Joanna Murray-Smith’s new adaptation of Uncle Vanya reminds us Chekhov’s play is both timeless and timely
- 05/06/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News: The Dispossessed at 50: Ursula K. Le Guin''s 'anarchist utopia' was an anguished response to war. Its political power endures
- 05/06/2024 - interviewed on 2CC Canberra Radioabout Ursula K Le Guin's novel 'The Dispossessed'
- 17/05/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News: Friday essay: ‘me against you’- Jon Ronson investigates the perpetual outrage of the culture wars
- 16/05/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on Johansen: Friday essay: ‘me against you’- Jon Ronson investigates the perpetual outrage of the culture wars
- 16/04/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on Scroll.in: Marquis de Sade, a feminist icon? Novelist Angela Carter’s surprising take on a notorious writer
- 17/03/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on JOHANSEN.SE: The Marquis de Sade as feminist icon? Angela Carter’s surprising take on a notorious write
- 07/03/2024 - article from The Conversation republished in the Daily Bulletin: Can you make a compelling play about economics? The Lehman Trilogy tries – but ultimately comes up short
- 04/03/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News: Can you make a compelling play about economics? The Lehman Trilogy tries – but ultimately comes up short
- 25/02/2024 - article from TheConversation republished on Scroll.in: ‘Answered Prayers’: Was it worth it for Truman Capote to write about his society friends’ secrets?
- 16/02/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on Johansen: Truman Capote was ruined when he published his society friends’ secrets. Was Answered Prayers worth it?
- 16/02/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News: Truman Capote was ruined when he published his society friends’ secrets. Was Answered Prayers worth it?
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02/01/2024 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News:
My favourite fictional character: George Smiley is unattractive, overweight, a terrible dresser - and a better spy than James Bond -
20/12/2023 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News:
Knausgaard's ambitious new novel imagines Europe's last decades - ending with an ominous star and the return of the dead -
03/12/2023 - article from The Conversation republished on TucsonSentinel.com:
The Pogues: Shane MacGowan perhaps proved himself the most important Irish writer since James Joyce -
01/12/2023 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News:
With The Pogues, Shane MacGowan perhaps proved himself the most important Irish writer since James Joyce -
28/11/2023 - article from The Conversationrepublished on Yahoo!News:
Chekhov called The Seagull 'a comedy'. The Sydney Theatre Company seems to forget it was a tragedy, too -
17/11/2023 - article from The Conversation republished on Daily Bulletin:
Belvoir's The Master and Margarita: astonishingly ambitious, physically demanding and a resounding success -
17/11/2023 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!Sport:
Belvoir's The Master and Margarita: astonishingly ambitious, physically demanding and a resounding success -
16/11/2023 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News:
The revamped Prime Minister's Literary Awards reward 'fresh ways of seeing' in 2023 -
27/10/2023 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News:
Friday essay: the secret lives of Ian Fleming and John Le Carré - the spymasters shaped by a lack of parental love -
17/10/2023 - article from The Conversation republished on Screen Hub:
The Exorcist: Believer is a sequel that shouldn’t exist -
17/10/2023 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!Sport:
The Exorcist: Believer is a ‘retcon’ film - it imagines none of the sequels exist. This sequel shouldn’t exist, either -
06/10/2023 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!Sport:
Jon Fosse wins the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature for giving 'voice to the unsayable' - 19/09/2023 - interviewed on ABC radio 'Nightlife' about Nadia Comaneci
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02/08/2023 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!Sport:
Olympic star Nadia Comaneci was a Romanian 'hero' who defected to escape her government. What do her surveillance files reveal? -
23/07/2023 - article from The Conversation republished on ABC News:
Nevil Shute's On the Beach warned us of nuclear annihilation. It's still a hot-button issue -
19/07/2023 - article from The Conversation republished in Yahoo! News:
'This is the way the world ends': Nevil Shute's On the Beach warned us of nuclear annihilation. It's still a hot-button issue -
26/06/2023 - article from The Conversation republished on Yahoo!News:
Atlas Shrugged: Ayn Rand's hero burns the world down when he doesn't get his way. Her fans run the world - should we worry? - 01/03/2023 - interviewed on ABC Radio Adelaide about 'Dark Side of the Moon' album
- 01/03/2023 - Yahoo!news republished The Conversation article: The Dark Side of the Moon at 50: how Marx, trauma and compassion all influenced Pink Floyd's masterpiece
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17/01/2023 - article from The Conversation republished on: Yahoo!News:
Bret Easton Ellis's ambitious new novel of sex, violence and adolescence in 80s Los Angeles is autofiction for our digital age