Dr. Gemma Marr
Academic
I'm a writer, researcher, and educator living in Saint John (Menaquesk), New Brunswick.
I teach part-time in the Department of Humanities and Languages at the University of New Brunswick Saint John and work as the Coordinator of the Lorenzo Society, an arts and culture organization housed in the Faculty of Arts. I completed my PhD in English Language and Literature at Carleton University in 2022. In my thesis, I looked at representations of love, desire, and longing in Atlantic Canadian literature and culture to reflect on myths of belonging; in particular, I'm interested in how queer desire is configured within understandings of the region, both past and present. After my PhD, I held a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of Historical Studies at UNB Fredericton (2023-2025) and conducted archival research into sexual deviancy in New Brunswick at the turn of the twentieth century. This research formed the basis of a project focused on Sheffield Street in Saint John, which you can learn more about on my "About" page! My academic work is interdisciplinary, with a focus on gender and sexuality in Atlantic Canadian history and culture.
Creative
My creative practice is rooted in New Brunswick; I'm interested in capturing some of the weird and wonderful aspects of this place, and playing with form to explore how people make, and are made by, the places they call home. I also enjoy working collaboratively on projects that turn attention to the province; for example, I was a co-creator of the Saint John zine It's Burning Off, which featured dozens of writers and artists from across the city throughout its publication run. I was also a project collaborator on the multidisciplinary project Tether, which engaged visual, narrative, and musical storytelling to reflect on the dynamics and patterns of the Fundy region.
Samples of My Creative Work
Academic CV
Areas of Teaching and Research Interest: Canadian Literature; Gender and Sexuality Studies; Queer Literature and Culture; Atlantic Canadian Literature and Culture; Atlantic Canadian History; Canadian History; Creative Writing
Course Instructor, Department of Humanities and Languages, UNBSJ (January 2023-current)
SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Historical Studies, UNB Fredericton (January 2023-January 2025)
Assistant Teaching Professor (Term), Department of Humanities and Languages, UNBSJ (January – December 2022)
Course Instructor, Department of English Language and Literature, Carleton University (2019-2021)
August 2022 — Doctor of Philosophy, English Language and Literature, Carleton University, Ottawa O.N. Dissertation: The Bucolic, the Backwoods, and the In-Between: Navigating Desire in Atlantic Canadian Literature. Nominated for a Senate Medal
September 2016 — Master of Arts, English Literature, University of Ottawa, Ottawa O.N. Major Research Project: “So I tried to explain the pitfalls of being on your own”: Applications of Kinship in Song of Rita Joe: Autobiography of a Mi’kmaq Poet
May 2015 — Bachelor of Arts, Honours in Atlantic Canada Studies, Major in English, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax N.S. Graduated summa cum laude
Monograph: Fictions of (Non)Belonging: Sexuality in Atlantic Canadian Literature (working title). Under revision for Wilfred Laurier University Press.
Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals:
Marr, Gemma. ““we’se’ll stick togedder always”: Male Desire in Frank Parker Day’s Rockbound.” Canadian Literature. Summer 2024.
Marr, Gemma. “Crafting a Heteronormative Haven: Representations of Sexuality on the Canadian Margin.” Queer Canada, special issue of the Journal of Canadian Studies, vol. 54, no. 2-3, 2020, pp. 245-265.
Marr, Gemma. ““I Picture Two Men Intertwined in a Double Helix””: Denaturalizing the Heteronormative in Jessica Grant’s Come, Thou Tortoise.” Studies in Canadian Literature/Etudes en literature canadienne, vol. 43, no. 2, 2018, pp. 205-224.
Public Facing Scholarship: Nov. 2025 — “Face to Face: Annabelle Babineau’s Queer Quilt.” Root Words: In Search of New Brunswick Arts Writing, ArtsLink NB.
2025 ArtsNB Creation Grant for Strings of the Tide: A Multisensory Adventure in New Brunswick with Graeme Patterson, Emily Kennedy, and the Saint John String Quartet, (Tether). $18, 490
2025 Project funding from CEWIL (Co-operative Education and Work Integrated Learning): ENGL 3716: Reading and Writing Community, Cura Cormorant Exhibition
2025 Third Place, Douglas Kyle Memorial Award for Short Fiction, Writers’ Federation of New Brunswick
2025 ArtsNB Creation Grant for a short fiction collection titled: Rock Salt Water $10,000
2024 and 2023, Nomination: Allan P. Stuart Award for Excellence in Teaching, UNB
2020 Ontario Graduate Scholarship $15,000
2020 Mitacs Research Training Award $6000
2020 Contemporary Women’s Writing Essay Prize £100
2019 Contemporary Women’s Writing Association Conference Paper Prize
2018 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, Department of English Language and Literature, Carleton University
2016–20 SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship $80,000
2016 Queen’s Fellowship, SSHRC $10,000
2016–17 Gordon J. Wood Memorial Scholarship, Carleton University $15,000
2016–20 Departmental Scholarship, English Language and Literature $35,000
“Snapshots of Sheffield Street.” Illustration and Heritage: The 14th International Illustration Research Symposium. 21-23 November. University of the Arts, London. London, England. (2024)
No Home on the Island: Responses to Queer Desire in Anne with an E.” L.M. Montgomery and the Politics of Home. L.M. Montgomery Institute, 16th biennial conference. 19-23 June. Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. (2024)
“Qweirdness and Liminality: Spells and R.M. Vaughan’s New Brunswick.” The New Acadiensis School. Atlantic Canada Studies Conference. 10-12th May. University of Maine, Orono Maine. (2024)
“Snapshots of Sheffield Street: Reconstructing Saint John’s “Unsavoury Precinct.” The New Acadiensis School. Atlantic Canada Studies Conference. 10-12th May University of Maine, Orono Maine. (2024)
“Networking Histories/Queer Art Histories: Invisibilities, Illuminations” Round table. Knowledge and Networks: Atlantic Canadian Allyships. Gail and Stephen A Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art. September 28-29. Halifax, Nova Scotia. (2023)
“Love, Lust, and the Local: Representations of Queerness in Newfoundland Fiction.” What Happens Now. British Association for Contemporary Literary Studies. 6-8 September, Birmingham, UK. (2023)
“Luminous Entanglements: Gender, Place, and Time in Newfoundland Eco-fiction.” Canadian Landscapes/Paysages canadiens. 9th Triennial Conference of the Central European Association for Canadian Studies. 27-29 October, Budapest, Hungary. (2022)
“Negotiating Spectral Sexualities: Queer Returns in Atlantic Canadian Fiction.” Histories from the Margins: Innovation and Adaption in Atlantic Canada. Atlantic Canada Studies Conference. 25-28 May, University of New Brunswick, Ekwpahak, Fredericton, NB. (2022)
““The ultimate specimen of manhood”: Place and Privilege in Lynn Coady’s Saints of Big Harbour.” Locations and Dislocations: Places and Spaces in Contemporary Women’s Writing, International Contemporary Women’s Writing Association Conference, 3-5 July, Algoma University, Sault Ste. Marie, ON. (2019)
““We are speaking our secret family language”: Reconfiguring the Heteronormative Family in Come, Thou Tortoise.” Thoughts from the Eastern Edge: A Symposium in Celebration of Dr. Herb Wyile, 10th Annual Raddall Symposium, 6-8 July, Acadia University, Wolfville, NS. (2017)
Snapshots of Sheffield Street: Reconstructing Saint John’s “Unsavoury Precinct.” New Brunswick Historical Society Public Lecture Series. Stone Church, Saint John. September (2026)
Workshop Co-Lead. Zine Making as Community Building. Fog City Comic Con. May 4 (2025)
Workshop Co-Lead. Zine Making Workshop for UNB Promise Partnership Youth Project. March 4, Crescent Valley Resource Centre and March 6, UNBSJ Annex. (2025)
Host. In-Conversation with Donna Morrisey. AX: Arts and Cultural Centre, Sussex, New Brunswick. April 17. (2025)
Host. Malliet-Frye Lecture with Brandon Taylor. 25th Annual Frye Festival. Moncton, New Brunswick, April 28th. (2024)
Keynote with Meredith J. Batt. Gail and Stephen A. Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art. Halifax Central Library, September (2023)
Editorial Committee, OAR, the official publication of the York-Sunbury Museum (2026-current)
Faculty Advisor, VOX: Annual Student Arts Publication, UNBSJ (2025-current)
Co-Chair, Fog Lit Literary Collective; a multi-day literary festival featuring graphic novelists, poets, and fiction writers (2023-current)
Co-Curator. Cura Cormorant. Student Exhibition, ENGL 3716: Reading and Writing Community in partnership with ArtsLink NB and CEWIL (Co-operative Education and Work Integrated Learning Canada). (2025)
Co-organized. MOSIAC: UNB Teaching Showcase. University of New Brunswick, Saint John. April 25th. The conference featured 26 papers by UNB faculty. (2024)
Organized a virtual presentation by Sarah Worthman titled “The Untold Queer History of the First World War.” Department of History and Politics at UNBSJ and Department of Historical Studies at UNB Fredericton. February 26 (2024)
Organized a posthumous Book Launch for R.M. Vaughan’s Pervatory. Lorenzo Society, UNBSJ. November 17 (2023)
Co-organized with Dr. David Creelman and Todd Ross. “Steps Toward Decolonization: Reimagining our Classrooms.” University of New Brunswick in Saint John. October 14th. This full-day conference drew 84 registrants and featured three speakers: Dr. Marie Battiste, shalan joudry, and Dr. David Perley (2023)
Executive Board Member, Canadian Studies Network-Réseau d’études canadiennes (2018-2020)
2025 — Fundamentals of Short Fiction Workshop with Eva Crocker, Online
2025 — Writing Mentorship with Michelle Winters via ArtsLink NB
2024 — Federation of British Columbia Writers, Summer Writing Retreat
2023 — Online Workshop: The Journey from Academic to General Readership with Tania Hersham, Arvon Foundation
2022 — Workshop: Lunch and Learn with Lolwa Elniaj — Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Faculty of Arts, University of New Brunswick Saint John
2021 — Teaching Commons: Antiracist and Decolonial Pedagogies, Department of English Language and Literature, Carleton University
2020 — Workshop: Studying Vulnerable Populations, Graduate and Postdoc Professional Development, Carleton University
2019 — Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans Course on Research Ethics
2018 — Workshop: Reducing Gender-Based Barriers and Affirming Two-Spirit , Trans*, Gender Diverse Students in the Classroom, Educational Development Centre, Carleton University