Congratulations to Memorial alumni Abigail Pinsent, BA (Hons), on being awarded the Rothermere Foundation Fellowship. 

The Stephenville native completed her bachelor of arts (honours) in English at Grenfell Campus in 2023. Following graduation, she was accepted into Acadia University for a master of arts.

“I'd already begun narrowing my area of research during my final year at Grenfell while writing my thesis, but it was through my MA that I was officially able to specialize in fantasy literature and film! During this time, I wrote my MA thesis, “Magic, Monsters, and Myth, Oh My! A Study of Essential vs Commonly Recurring Generic Memes in Modern Fantasy” under the guidance of my supervisor, Dr. Kevin Whetter.”

Ms. Pinsent presented a paper at her first conference hosted by the Atlantic Medieval Association during the fall, which she describes as an exciting experience. She visited Grenfell recently and gave a talk on fantasy.

“I was selected as the Rothermere Fellow at the end of November, and was honestly quite shocked at having been chosen! I hadn't been expecting it at all, as the study of fantasy is still an emerging field in Canada.”

Up next for Ms. Pinsent is a doctoral degree in English Literature at the University of Glasgow in Scotland.

“Where my studies are focused in fantasy, locating institutions in Canada with both the resources and the capacity to advise a student in my area has been a difficult process - few Canadian institutions allow for students to pursue fantasy officially - but Glasgow is home to the Centre for Fantasy and the Fantastic, making it the only institution in the world with a centre dedicated entirely to the study of fantasy! “