Author Archives: JFDerry

About JFDerry

Writer. Darwin, science & more. 4 books: Piospheres, Darwin in Scotland, Serial Killers. Current project is THE DISSENT OF MAN. Born near London, raised near Primrose Hill and in Lincolnshire, and studied at the Universities of Bangor, York and Edinburgh for degrees in Biochemistry, Bioelectronics and Biological Computation, and a PhD in African Ecology. Mainly working in British and African universities, but also in Spain, Brussels, Mongolia and Australia, to date, publication history is mostly in academic journals, on aspects of computational biology, pastoralism and on Charles Darwin and evolution. However, also written for several national newspapers, various governments, several major record labels and independent book publishers. Fiction has appeared at the Edinburgh International Book Festival and poetry is at the Human Genre Project. Lives in Edinburgh, with partner and their two daughters.

Visual Poetry #5: Repetition

Posted on March 26, 2013

I am so lucky to “know” some people. I say “know”, rather than know, because they are online friends (essentially via Twitter), and I have never had the pleasure of meeting them in person. However, their friendship has overwhelmed me … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry | 2 Comments

Dandy Lion

Posted on December 8, 2012

Everything was going too smoothly. The lions were tranquillised, and the radio collar was nearly on. Then, suddenly, it all went pear-shaped. “An angry lion will drop into a crouch, flatten its ears and give vent to grows and grunts, … Continue reading →

Posted in Short Stories, Travel | Leave a comment

Rape Jokes Are Dangerous

Posted on September 1, 2012

*** Trigger warning for discussion of rape and rape jokes *** The previous article on Rape Jokes Are Not Funny presented evidence for the negative effects of rape in humour within the context of experiencing two comedy events in the … Continue reading →

Posted in For the Record, Rape | Tagged | 1 Comment

Rape Jokes Are Not Funny

Posted on August 27, 2012

*** Trigger warning for discussion of rape and rape jokes *** I caused a bit of a twitterstorm this morning, moaning about misogyny and rape jokes during two Edinburgh Fringe Festival gigs we attended last night. This is now me, trying to … Continue reading →

Posted in Rape | Tagged | 74 Comments

Censortivity

Posted on August 22, 2012

The next day’s session of the Edinburgh World Writers’ Conference at this years Edinburgh Book Festival considered the topic of Censorship. An account of the session can be read here. An archive of the video recordings from the conference is … Continue reading →

Posted in Books | Leave a comment

International Rescue

Posted on August 20, 2012

The Edinburgh World Writers’ Conference at this years Edinburgh Book Festival is proving a mixed success: the writing delegation is nitpicking, finding fault in the uneven representation of nations present, and in the execution of each debate. Too much emphasis … Continue reading →

Posted in Books | Leave a comment

I Hold That Face, And Adore It

Posted on August 16, 2012

It all started on 7th June of this year when Cargo Publishing tweeted about their book to commemorate the 1962 Writers’ Conference held in Edinburgh, Our 1962 Conference Book a preview! But we need your help. Anyone know who the … Continue reading →

Posted in India, Poetry | 9 Comments

The Dissent of Man – Final epoch

Posted on July 28, 2012

Previously in this series - The Dissent of Man – 4th epoch I’m going to conclude this series of posts about The Dissent of Man project with a closer look at the Unbound crowd-sourced publishing process from the point of view of … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Darwin | Tagged | 1 Comment

The Dissent of Man – 4th epoch

Posted on July 21, 2012

Previously in this series - The Dissent of Man – 3rd epoch Having banged on in defence of the diversity of ideas in the previous post, I had better turn to the idea behind The Dissent of Man. It is clear … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Darwin | Tagged | 2 Comments

The Dissent of Man – 3rd epoch

Posted on July 18, 2012

Previously in this series - The Dissent of Man – 2nd epoch Fellow Unbound author Stevyn Colgan, illustrator, speaker, songwriter, sceptic, Blue Peter badge winner, QI contributor, and lovely fellow, who has a fantastic book project on the go in Constable … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Darwin | Tagged | 4 Comments