Dr Chloe Green is a new lecturer in English with the School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics at ANU and brings a unique understanding of medical humanities to her teaching. 

Dr Green first completed a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Auckland in 2010, saying “I was actually more convinced that I was going to pursue a career in plant biology when I started the degree, but over time I became more passionate about literature.”

This passion then led her to complete an Honours (2012) and Masters (2013) in English. Working in university administration for a few years she ‘hopped across the pond’ to complete her PhD at the University of Melbourne, looking at how emotion and affect contribute to gendered health disparities.

So how did she first become interested in medical humanities? 

“My first memory is a medical one! I was diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes around the time that I turned 3, so my first memory is being given my Medic-Alert bracelet on my third birthday. Because of this, I’ve had a lot more contact with medicine than most growing up, and I think I’ve always seen it as an inextricable part of my everyday life,” Dr Green said.

“When starting my PhD, which looked into women’s experiences of contested illness, I was drawing on experiences where doctors didn’t listen, or didn’t respect patients’ bodily autonomy or expertise around their bodies, and this helped me to see my work as part of a larger movement towards empowering patients.” 

While some may think these stories of being ignored and discredited would be draining to read, Dr Green believes the contrary; “illness narratives can be irreverent, fun, inspiring, and formally innovative as literature. I think some of the most interesting, ambitious and challenging literature right now is coming out of illness writing, and so I’m really working to make this area accessible and engaging to students.” 

Further to this work, Dr Green’s next project ‘The Work of Wellness: Affective Economies in Contemporary Fictions of Labour’ examines the intersection of workplace fiction and wellness culture, seeking to understand “the cruel optimism driving both spheres, and will argue that fictions of labour allow us to understand how these spheres exceed their cultural positioning.”

“I see literary form as being an essential mode through which these dominant cultural narratives can be contested, and through which we can knowingly enter into new paradigms where affect underpins all our choices.”

Outside of the university Dr Green is an avid fan of No Lights No Lycra, casual free-form dance classes in the dark as “you can let the week’s frustrations out in a little boogie and dance like nobody’s watching.” 

Having previously lived in Auckland, Melbourne, Montreal and most recently Dublin, the change of scenery to the nation’s capital is welcomed. She said “So far, I’ve enjoyed the compact nature of Canberra living! Having moved from a city where it took hours to get anywhere on public transport, I’m loving the walkability and convenience of Canberra.”

Read more about Dr Green’s work here.