Overview
Background
Dr Lee McGowan is a researcher, writer, and teacher. He has been awarded Category 2 and 3 grant funding. His publications include journal articles, book chapters, a digital history, an exhibition, fiction, and creative non-fiction. In 15 years of learning and teaching, he has designed, delivered, and coordinated programs and courses in higher degree research, postgraduate coursework, and undergraduate studies. He has accumulated 19 HDR completions to date and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Lee’s primary research interests are in the intersections of creative writing, sport, and community engagement. In 2024 he co-authored Women’s Football in Oceania (Routledge) and Beach Soccer Histories (Routledge). Before that, he co-edited an anthology on Intersections of Creative Writing and Sport (Springer 2023), wrote Football in Fiction: a history (Routledge 2019) and co-authored Never Say Die: The Hundred Year Overnight Success of Australian Women’s Football (New South 2019). His new co-authored monograph, Contemporary Literary Sports Journalism (Palgrave), will be published in early 2026. He is currently working up a small number of new writing projects.
Availability
- Dr Lee McGowan is:
- Available for supervision
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy of Creative Writing, Queensland University of Technology
Research interests
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Creative Writing: Fiction & Creative non-fiction
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Sports Writing
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Football Writing
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Sports Histories
Works
Search Professor Lee McGowan’s works on UQ eSpace
2025
Journal Article
Standing with FC St. Pauli: an examination of a reflexive autoethnographic account of a woman sports fan’s experience of German men’s professional football
Symons, Kasey and McGowan, Lee (2025). Standing with FC St. Pauli: an examination of a reflexive autoethnographic account of a woman sports fan’s experience of German men’s professional football. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, 1-16. doi: 10.1108/edi-06-2024-0279
2025
Book
Contemporary literary sports journalism: histories, futures, and the contests in between
McGowan, Lee, Symons, Kasey, Hoey, Paddy and Ellison, Elizabeth (2025). Contemporary literary sports journalism: histories, futures, and the contests in between. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature Switzerland. doi: 10.1007/978-3-032-06143-0
2024
Other Outputs
Women love playing sport – and writing about it. Here are 6 fascinating and surprising sports books by women
McGowan, Lee (2024, 12 31). Women love playing sport – and writing about it. Here are 6 fascinating and surprising sports books by women The Conversation
2024
Conference Publication
Fandom in Fiction: Investigating the Growing Genre of Sports Romance Novels that Centre Diversity and Inclusion Narratives
Symons, Kasey and McGowan, Lee (2024). Fandom in Fiction: Investigating the Growing Genre of Sports Romance Novels that Centre Diversity and Inclusion Narratives. 30th Sports Management Association of Australia & New Zealand Conference, Geelong, VIC Australia, 4-6 December 2024. SMAANZ.
2024
Book Chapter
Reframing Impact Through Sharing Stories: Reflections on Emerging Evaluation Practices in Women's Football in the Pacific Islands
McGowan, Lee, Kanemasu, Yoko, Taylor, Chelsey and Symons, Kasey (2024). Reframing Impact Through Sharing Stories: Reflections on Emerging Evaluation Practices in Women's Football in the Pacific Islands. Towards a Pacific Island Sociology of Sport. (pp. 163-181) Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Emerald Group. doi: 10.1108/s1476-285420240000022009
2024
Journal Article
“Seven weeks is not a lot of time”: Temporal work and institutional change in Australian football
McLeod, Joshua, Zeimers, Géraldine, Robertson, Jonathan, Ordway, Catherine, McGowan, Lee and Shilbury, David (2024). “Seven weeks is not a lot of time”: Temporal work and institutional change in Australian football. Journal of Sport Management, 38 (4), 257-270. doi: 10.1123/jsm.2023-0278
2023
Book Chapter
Beyond the box score: reflecting on the intersections of sport and society in creative writing
McGowan, Lee, Symons, Kasey and Fiedler, Amanda (2023). Beyond the box score: reflecting on the intersections of sport and society in creative writing. Intersections of sport and society in creative writing. (pp. 1-10) edited by Lee McGowan and Kasey Symons. Singapore: Springer Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-99-5585-5_1
2023
Book Chapter
Don Davies & Hugh McIlvanney: the literary football reporters who elevated british sports journalism
Hoey, Paddy and McGowan, Lee (2023). Don Davies & Hugh McIlvanney: the literary football reporters who elevated british sports journalism. Intersections of sport and society in creative writing. (pp. 31-46) edited by Lee McGowan and Kasey Symons. Singapore: Springer Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-99-5585-5_3
2023
Journal Article
Creative writers working on a women’s football project: an examination of the collaborative practices of differing communities on a project for the women’s game in Fiji, Samoa, and Solomon Islands - O trabalho de escritores em um projeto para o futebol feminino: examinando práticas colaborativas entre diferentes comunidades em um projeto para o esporte feminino em Fiji, Ilhas Salomão e Samoa
Almeida Passos, Arthur, Fiedler, Amanda, Sauvage, Juliette, Mackenzie, Kyle, Whiley, Taryn, Kanemasu, Yoko, Symons, Kasey and McGowan, Lee (2023). Creative writers working on a women’s football project: an examination of the collaborative practices of differing communities on a project for the women’s game in Fiji, Samoa, and Solomon Islands - O trabalho de escritores em um projeto para o futebol feminino: examinando práticas colaborativas entre diferentes comunidades em um projeto para o esporte feminino em Fiji, Ilhas Salomão e Samoa. FuLiA/UFMG, 8 (2), 156-184. doi: 10.35699/2526-4494.2023.45348
2023
Book
Beach soccer histories
McGowan, Lee, Ellison, Elizabeth and Lastella, Michele (2023). Beach soccer histories. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003288541
2023
Conference Publication
Investigating the Growing Genre of Queer Sports Romance Novels Centring the Australian Women’s National Football League (AFLW) and Connections to Fandom of Women’s Sport
Symons, Kasey and McGowan, Lee (2023). Investigating the Growing Genre of Queer Sports Romance Novels Centring the Australian Women’s National Football League (AFLW) and Connections to Fandom of Women’s Sport. 40th Sport Literature Assocation Annual Conference, Fredericton, Canada, 21-24 June 2023.
2023
Book
Women’s football in Oceania
McGowan, Lee, Symons, Kasey and Kanemasu, Yoko (2023). Women’s football in Oceania. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003300083
2023
Journal Article
Re-viewing the woman as fan: an examination of the narrative framing of the women in cinematic adaptations of Nick Hornby’s fever pitch
Symons, Kasey and McGowan, Lee (2023). Re-viewing the woman as fan: an examination of the narrative framing of the women in cinematic adaptations of Nick Hornby’s fever pitch. Sport in Society, 26 (7), 1265-1279. doi: 10.1080/17430437.2022.2125804
2023
Book
Intersections of sport and society in creative writing
McGowan, Lee and Symons, Kasey eds. (2023). Intersections of sport and society in creative writing. Singapore: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-981-99-5585-5
2022
Journal Article
Subverting the inverted pyramid: Kevin McCarra and the revolution in British football journalism 1988-2020
Hoey, Paddy, McGowan, Lee and Forrest, David (2022). Subverting the inverted pyramid: Kevin McCarra and the revolution in British football journalism 1988-2020. Text, 26 (Special 67), 1-17. doi: 10.52086/001c.37826
2022
Journal Article
Introduction: Creative writing and sport
Symons, Kasey, McGowan, Lee and Hickling, Ali (2022). Introduction: Creative writing and sport. Text, 26 (Special 67), 1-5. doi: 10.52086/001c.37817
2022
Conference Publication
Creative Writing, Collaboration and Maximising Conference Connections: A Reflection on the Collaborative Environment of the Sport Literature Association
Symons, Kasey and McGowan, Lee (2022). Creative Writing, Collaboration and Maximising Conference Connections: A Reflection on the Collaborative Environment of the Sport Literature Association. 39th Sport Literature Assocation Annual Conference, Online, 15-18 June 2022.
2021
Journal Article
Behind the goal: exploring the football (soccer) goal net through object biography and creative non-fiction
Forrest, David and McGowan, Lee (2021). Behind the goal: exploring the football (soccer) goal net through object biography and creative non-fiction. Text, 25 (Special 63), 1-15. doi: 10.52086/001c.29721
2021
Conference Publication
Non-player Performances: An Examination of the Roles Non-male Characters are Allocated in Australian Sports Fiction Related to Two Codes of Football
McGowan, Lee and Symons, Kasey (2021). Non-player Performances: An Examination of the Roles Non-male Characters are Allocated in Australian Sports Fiction Related to Two Codes of Football. 38th Sport Literature Assocation Annual Conference, Online, 23-26 June 2021.
2021
Book Chapter
Kicking, not screaming
Wright-Brough, Freya and McGowan, Lee (2021). Kicking, not screaming. Football and Popular Culture. (pp. 71-86) London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003002604-8
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Lee McGowan is:
- Available for supervision
Looking for a supervisor? Read our advice on how to choose a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Master Philosophy
A Father Made of Hounds and an Uncle Made of Storms: Re-imagining Father Son Dynamics in Fantasy Fiction.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Helen Marshall, Associate Professor Venero Armanno
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Doctor Philosophy
Mechanics of Imagination: Arthur Coghlan and Generative AI in Creative Nonfiction
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Helen Marshall, Professor Kim Wilkins
Media
Enquiries
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