The Transnational Urban Narratives Network is a cross-institutional research collective that aims to provide an international platform for academics and researchers studying different forms of urban narratives and imaginaries across cultures and historical periods. It encourages transnational and interdisciplinary approaches to the study of different genres and cultural forms, such as literature, cinema, visual art, social media, as well as narratives and texts that cross genres. It organises regular reading groups that discuss different theoretical and critical perspectives, such as those relating to literary and cultural theories, urban studies, gender studies, cultural anthropology, urban history, and cultural geography, as well as workshops, conferences, and seminars to foster international collaboration and conversations. Founded and facilitated by faculty in the Department of English at the City University of Hong Kong and the Department of Religious and Cultural Studies at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Network hopes to connect with researchers who are based in Asia and internationally, while also foregrounding Asia as a key site of urban imagination and cross-cultural dialogue.

To find out more, please visit the Network’s website: https://urbannarrativesnetwork.com/

Co-convenors of the Network organised an international, cross-institutional, and interdisciplinary conference, ‘Urban Mediations: International Conference on the Narratives, Ecologies, and Poetics of the City’ from 5-6 December 2024. Over 100 speakers and participants took part in this conference to discuss various critical and creative praxes and emerging frameworks for inquiring into urban phenomenon and literary and cultural production across historical periods and geographical regions. For details of the conference, please visit Urban Mediations | Department of English