Prof. Kirsty Fairclough (she/her) is Head of Research and Knowledge Exchange at the School of Digital Arts (SODA) at Manchester Metropolitan University and a passionate advocate for Manchester and its world leading cultural output. She is the current Chair of Manchester Jazz Festival, Manchester's longest running music festival and a member of the GMCA Music Commission.
Kirsty’s current research areas include the audio -visual mediation of popular culture, celebrity studies and popular music with an emphasis on the life and legacy of Prince. She has published widely on popular culture and is the co-editor of Prince and Popular Culture, The Music Documentary: Acid Rock to Electropop, The Arena Concert: Music, Media and Mass Entertainment and Music/Video: Forms, Aesthetics, Media and author of the forthcoming Beyoncé: Celebrity Feminism and Popular Culture.
Kirsty is a regular commentator on popular culture featuring on BBC News, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio Manchester, and in The Guardian and Creative Review amongst others. Kirsty works closely with a number of cultural organisations in the UK and is the co-curator of Sound and Vision: Pop Stars on Film and the curator of In Her View: Women Documentary Filmmakers film seasons at HOME, Manchester.