In the run up to Doing Women’s Film and Television History 7 in June, the Women’s Film and Television History Network UK and Ireland (WFTHN) is pleased to host an online event to celebrate recent scholarship on women’s television authorship.
This event will take place on Tuesday May 20th 2025 between 5pm-6pm BST. The event is free and welcome to everyone. Please register for the event via this Eventbrite link. Registered attendees will be issued with an online meeting link to attend.
Chairing this talk is WFTHN member Dr Sarah Arnold from Maynooth University, Ireland. Speaking about their scholarship are: Dr Laura Minor, Lecturer in Television Studies at the University of Salford, UK; Dr Sarah Louise Smyth, Lecturer in Film at the University of Essex, UK; and Dr Stefania Marghitu, Assistant Professor in the Department of Journalism and Creative Media at the University of Alabama, USA.
First, we will hear from Laura Minor who will speak about her book, Reclaiming Female Authorship in Contemporary UK Television Comedy (Edinburgh University Press, 2024), which is a timely exploration of women’s creative labour in British and Irish television comedy. The book champions the cultural significance of female-authored comedy, analysing the work of key figures such as Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Julia Davis, Michaela Coel, Sharon Horgan, and the Caitlin and Caroline Moran sisters. Minor argues that humour has become a vital tool in feminist expression, pointing to the ever-present challenges women face in a still largely patriarchal industry. Reclaiming Female Authorship… also critiques the lack of diversity in mainstream comedy, pointing specifically to representation and race. Minor ultimately argues that comedy is a political act, drawing on Rowe’s concept of women’s ‘unruliness.’
The next talk by Sarah Louise Smyth and Stefania Marghitu introduces and explains some of the rich articles that form their 2024 special dossier for the New Review of Film and Television (22:1) titled ‘Women’s Authorship and Adaptation in Contemporary Television.’ This collection explores women’s authorship and adaptation in contemporary television, particularly within the streaming era and the context of “quality” TV. This dossier examines shows adapted from woman-authored texts where women hold key production roles, such as showrunner or executive producer. The dossier challenges traditional notions of the male auteur by highlighting the collaborative and contested nature of women’s authorship in television. Through case studies such as Big Little Lies (2017-2019), Sharp Objects (2018), I’ll Be Gone in the Dark (2020) and Little Fires Everywhere (2020), the dossier overall considers how adaptation serves as a rich site for feminist analysis. The contributors, which include Shelley Cobb, Tanya Horeck and Jessica Ford, reveal the complexities, struggles, and industrial constraints shaping women’s creative authority in today’s highly commercialised TV landscape.
There will be a short Q&A afterwards which will be chaired by Arnold.
Register for this event via Eventbrite here.
WFTHN 