Jodi McAlister

Jodi writes, researches and teaches popular genre fiction, with a particular focus on romance and young adult fiction. Recent academic publications include The Consummate Virgin: Female Virginity Loss and Love in Anglophone Popular Literatures (Palgrave 2020) and New Adult Fiction (Cambridge UP 2021). Her creative publications include the young adult Valentine series, published by Penguin Teen Australia – Valentine (2017), Ironheart (2018), and Misrule (2019).

Jodi runs the Writing & Literature social media, serves on the industry advisory panel for Verandah, and assists in the Work-Integrated Learning space. She has two main areas of research inquiry: 1) romantic love in popular culture, encompassing media like romance fiction, soap opera, and reality dating shows; and 2) the operations of the popular genre fiction industry. She is also a creative practitioner.

She is the Area Co-Chair for Romance at the Popular Culture Association, the major international scholarly body for the study of pop culture. She writes regularly about her research for public audiences, including recaps of The Bachelor/ette Australia, and is a frequent author guest at writers’ festivals.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @JodiMcA

Instagram: @jodimcalister

Website: jodimcalister.com.au