Katy Shaw
Katy Shaw on putting down roots
Professor Katy Shaw has travelled the world, seeing all the sights before eventually returning to her home city of Newcastle upon Tyne. As AHRC Director of Creative Communities and Director of Cultural Partnerships at Northumbria University, Katy is passionate about relocating the creative industries to the North and educating the next generation. Katy spoke to Pattern about her career, travels and what ‘settling down’ looks like for her.
Edited by Ruby Guyler Photographs by Christopher Owens
What does a brief history of you look like?
I’m from Newcastle but had to move away to study and find work. I trained as a teacher and was told by a brilliant inspirational lecturer that I should ‘become an academic’. As the first in my family to go to university, I didn’t have a clue what that meant or how to go about it! I just kept working hard at the research I thought was important and did teaching in secondary, FE and HE to pay for my PhD.
From there, I worked at universities in Greenwich, Brighton, Leeds and around the world with the British Council Literature team, from Bangkok to Russia. Now I’m home in Newcastle - it’s been a decade-long journey home but worth it!
Tell me about your career. What do you attribute to your success?
I wear two hats: one as Professor of Contemporary Writing and Director of University Cultural Partnerships at Northumbria University, and the other as Director of Creative Communities for AHRC/UKRI.
Northumbria University won University of the Year 2022, and it’s entirely down to our brilliant students and staff. Together, we’ve committed to a mission to become a research-intensive modern university; we keep teaching and equality at our core and remain committed to reaching students who might not otherwise think of HE study and opening doors for them.
The AHRC is also an inspirational organisation to work for! Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK creative economy was growing at four times the rate of any other sector. AHRC is supporting and driving new initiatives to accelerate research and development and share the benefits of research and impact across UK society.
What do you love most about what you do every day?
The best thing about my job is that no two days are the same! One day I can be lecturing, leading tutorials with students or doing degree ceremonies. The next I can be taking part in government policy forums, meeting with mayors and industry leaders, then getting hands-on with communities to hear about what they need and want in terms of creativity and research priorities. As in many other contexts, diversity is a blessing.
Have you had to make sacrifices in your chosen career, and have they been worth it?
Absolutely. As a woman especially, the myth of having it all is something that I’m always keen to debunk. I moved 11 times in 10 years, working up and down the country in roles that weren’t secure enough to do normal things like buy a house or put down roots. I travel all the time and while that’s great, it also means that I miss out on stuff.
I’m always conscious that your tombstone won't tell people that you were a great worker - it’ll say whether you were a good daughter, sister, or friend. Part of my decision to come home to Newcastle was the desire to embed myself in the region - as an advocate for the best place in the world - and to encourage other industries and individuals to join me in relocating the creative industries north of the M25. The litmus test is always to ask if 12 year old me would be happy with the career I have today. (She would).
“I moved 11 times in 10 years, working up and down the country in roles that weren’t secure enough to do normal things like buy a house or put down roots”
What are some of your daily rituals and why are they part of your routine?
I always exercise first thing in the morning, no matter where in the world I am or what time I’ve hit the sack. I only started running in my 30s and it really helps to reset my mind and give me space away from super-connected daily life to think and reflect. It’s also a great way to see places while I’m travelling!
What does work/life balance look like for you?
Variable. Like most industries, there are pinch points in the year – literary festival season for example! – when I end up working a lot of weekends and travelling more than usual. Generally, I try to only work one weekend in a month if I can, but travel and the North can often make logistics tricky. I think everyone is more conscious of the work-to-live ethos post-covid, but the pandemic certainly made me appreciate the value of seeing people in person.
How do you stay focused and productive in a world of distractions?
Everyone is proficient at platform surfing now – listening to a podcast with the TV on mute, Twitter open on your laptop and Instagram on your phone… and I’m no different! I like the chorus of the contemporary, and the multitude of writings that we encounter on a day-to-day basis. Our generation reads more than ever before – on social media and screens, as well as in books, newspapers and magazines. The only time that they’re all switched off is when I’m writing. Zadie Smith calls WiFi the enemy of the writer, and she’s not wrong!
“Change doesn’t happen in massive shifts - it’s lots of smaller nudges that collectively shift the horizons of possibility”
If you had the power to change the world, what would you change?
We all have the power to change the world! This was the theme of my Ted Talk. The best thing you can say at the end of a working day, week or year is that you made a difference or changed something, someone, or created something that will contribute. Change doesn’t happen in massive shifts - it’s lots of smaller nudges like these that collectively shift the horizons of possibility.