DIARMUID HESTER
Academic | Writer | Performer
WORK
recent activities
WRONG
June 2020
The definitive account of one of America's most acclaimed and controversial writers. Diarmuid Hester crafts a lively retrospective appraisal of Dennis Cooper's 50-year career, from his early poetry to his shocking novels of the 90s to his recent GIF novels. Using archival research, close readings, and new interviews, WRONG weaves a complex and often thrilling biographical narrative that cements Cooper’s status as a leading figure of the post-War avant-garde.
Published by University of Iowa Press
‘A riveting chronicle of Dennis Cooper’s intertwined life and work’
—Wayne Koestenbaum, author, Camp Marmalade
NEW GENERATION THINKER
March 2020
Dr Diarmuid Hester has been named a New Generation Thinker by a joint committee of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) and the BBC.
Defined as an academic who ‘brings the best of university research and scholarly ideas to a broad audience through the media and public engagement’, New Generation Thinkers spend a year working closely with producers at the BBC, contributing to radio broadcasts, and developing research projects into programmes for a general public.
A GREAT RECORDED HISTORY
November 2019
A Queer Cambridge Audio Trail
This free one-hour audio trail explores Cambridge’s queer past through its literature and politics. Featuring interviews with older members of the city’s LGBTQ+ community and literary excerpts, it gives listeners a chance to immerse themselves in the history of the place—and to become part of it.
Created by Dr Diarmuid Hester and produced by David Bramwell. Financed by Cambridge University Diversity Fund.
BIO
Diarmuid Hester is a radical cultural historian of the United States after 1950. He is an authority on experimental and sexually dissident literature, art, film, and performance.
Diarmuid is based at the Faculty of English, University of Cambridge.
