Help Emma to complete their PhD

Hello everyone! I hate having to ask for help at the best of times, but decided to see if any friends and the community could lend a hand to get me over this final hurdle!

I've been working on my PhD since 2019, at Northumbria University. My thesis is entitled "Cross-dressing and 'Transgression' in the neo-Victorian city". It looks at how cross-dressing, as an expression of gender and sexuality, is represented in literary spaces, and the extent to which this is seen to 'transgress' social codes.

This has been self-funded up until this point - I've been lucky enough to be able to cover the majority of my fees through the Doctoral Loan (Student Finance), but due to unexpected circumstances during the PhD journey, I've now come to the end of that financial support. As a result, I'm working and researching in order to cover living costs and the final course costs - this currently stands at £1200, but doesn't consider any final write up costs which may result from completing any post-viva corrections.

I have worked throughout the PhD and continue to do so, and am incredibly fortunate to be able to have a stable income to help me with living expenses, but any support to help with the financial element of this PhD would be greatly appreciated.

During the PhD, I have been able to engage with the wider community and academics within 19th century and neo-Victorian studies, and projects such as mine continue to engage with issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community. In particular, I address issues around 'respectability' and 'gendered spaces', and how even cis-gendered people experience problems when they do not conform to a narrow view of the ideal body or gender presentation. Literary works are one part of the media world which can represent and reflect these discourses, or challenge them positively.

During the PhD I have empowered other academics, both through mentoring and support, assisting in scholarly associations such as the Victorian Popular Fiction Association and the British Association for Contemporary Literary Studies. I have also created the Victorian Legacies Podcast, which showcases the work of PhDs, early career academics, and independent researchers.

My goal is to complete the PhD and continue this work as an independent scholar, broadening the opportunities that those in formal academic roles can aspire to, and continuing to consider how issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community are represented in literary works.

To help me in this final hurdle, I'm asking people to lend a penny or two! This of course is only if you are able to - even if you cannot donate, sharing this would also be so helpful! Anyone who donates and is named will be given an acknowledgement in the thesis, as I feel this act of kindness warrants some formal recognition.

Thanks for taking the time to read, please do share with friends, and I'll post updates on the project as I continue this final writing up process!