The death and resurrection of Elvis Presley, by Ted Harrison, London, Reaktion Books, 2016, 272 pp., £16.00 (hardback), ISBN: 978-1-78-023637-7
Celebrity Studies: Book Review – Enchanting David Bowie: space/time/body/memory
Enchanting David Bowie: space/time/body/memory, edited by Toija Cinque, Christopher Moore and Sean Redmond, New York and London, Bloomsbury, 2015, 368 pp., £23.99 (paperback), ISBN: 978-1-6289-2303-2
Paper: The Saintmaker – Céline Martin, Thérèse of Lisieux and the Creation of a Religious Commodity
Paper given at the ‘On commotions and commodities. Catholic celebrities in 19th and 20th century Europe’ international workshop held on 22nd June at the Ruusbroec Institute, University of Antwerp (part of the ERC-funded Stigmatics project)
Talk: ‘I’m just the space cadet, he’s the commander’ – Reflecting on Bowie Fandom
Talk given at Club Critical Theory seminar, following a screening of Cracked Actor, as part of Strange, Mad Celebration, a Bowie all-dayer held at The Railway, Southend-on-Sea on 19th June
The Quietus: An Interloper In The World – Confessions Of A Heretic Reviewed
Sophia Deboick considers the English-language version of Adam ‘Nergal’ Darski’s autobiography, a work of more than just sensationalism for its own sake, via the Polish people’s love for scrambled eggs, The Voice and polarising views on religion
Lecture: ‘There’s no doubt – I’m one of the devout’: Fandom and Popular Cults, Sacred and Secular
Guest lecture given on COM 5218 Celebrity and Fan Culture module, Richmond American International University, London, on 16th October, at the invitation of Associate Professor of Communication, Dr Fred Vermorel
Blog: An Angel in the Trenches, A Bestseller in the Shops – Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, Commercial Religion and the First World War
The First World War saw some of the richest (and kitschest) pieces of material devotional culture produced by the Carmel of Lisieux
The Guardian, Cif Belief: Must the Catholic church dehumanise John Paul II to make him a saint?
Sadly, the process of canonisation seems to require stripping the former pope of his personality, to fit the sterile mould of a saint
Lecture: ‘There’s no doubt – I’m one of the devout’: Fandom and Popular Cults, Sacred and Secular
Guest lecture given on COM 5218 Celebrity and Fan Culture module, Richmond American International University, London, on 24th October, at the invitation of Associate Professor of Communication, Dr Fred Vermorel
The Guardian, Cif Belief: Jesus Christ Superstar teaches us the perils of celebrity
As the religious rock opera turns 40, its message of the dehumanising effects of fame is as relevant as ever
Sophia Deboick 