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Matthew Leggatt

Matthew Leggatt

Matthew Leggatt, Senior Lecturer in English and American Literature at the University of Winchester and editor of Wastelands and Wonderlands (SUNY Press, 2026)

Sep 27, 2026

22:52
How does that work, perhaps also based on your experience in teaching these texts to younger generations, to university students?
23:01
It's a really good question.
23:01
And I'll preface my response by just saying that, you know, this is a book that, as I've already hinted at, it's coming out in paperback and was out in half back six months ago.
23:13
And the writing process finished quite some time ago.
23:15
So my memory sometimes is a little bit foggy of what's in a chapter and what's my idea of what's in a chapter.
23:22
But yeah, you're talking about a chapter by Heather McKnight in particular on Utopia Falls, which, I mean, they're all great chapters, but it's a very nice chapter.
23:31
One that I think speaks about kind of going back a little bit to the stuff I was talking about in the in my thoughts on whether or not I'm a utopian, you know, um, speaks to this idea that utopian, uh, utopianists are also activists, which I think is an interesting sort of leap, but yeah, there's no doubt.

5 MINS LATER

29:05
How does utopia and dystopian fiction help us reason through the problems of the time? How is this achieved?
22:08
Um, how does that, how does that work perhaps also based on your experience in, in teaching, uh, these texts to younger generations, to university students?
22:17
That's a really good question.
22:18
And I, I'll preface my response by just saying that, you know, um, this, this is a book that, uh, as I've already hinted at, um, is coming out in paperback, um, and was out in hardback six months ago, and the writing process finished quite some time ago.
22:31
So, so my memory sometimes is a little bit foggy of, of what's in a chapter and what's my, my idea of what's in a chapter.
22:38
Um, but yeah, you're talking about, um, a chapter by Heather McKnight in particular on Utopia Falls, which, I mean, they're all great chapters.
22:44
It's, but it's a very nice chapter.
22:47
Um, one that I think speaks, speaks about kind of going back, back a little bit to the, the stuff I was talking about in, in the, in my sort of thoughts on whether or not I'm a utopian.

5 MINS LATER

28:20
Um, how does utopian, dystopian fiction help us reason through the problems of, of the time? How is this, um, how is this achieved?

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