Tara Brabazon podcast How to keep building a research career - A conversation with Professor Priscilla Dunk-West
Nov 5, 2026
Priscilla Dunk-West, a sociologist and social worker researching professional identity, intimate life, and social justice, discusses what comes after publishing a major article or book. She explores building a career around long-form thinking, nurturing publisher relationships, planning a book’s contribution, finding connections across disciplines, reaching audiences beyond academia, and sustaining momentum through rest and changing seasons.
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Build A Career Narrative Around Each Book
- A book becomes career-building when its unique contribution connects to a broader research narrative.
- Dunk-West treats books as long projects, potentially linked across five-year publishing cycles.
A Cancelled Contract Did Not End The Book
- A COVID-era publisher cancelled Dunk-West’s signed contract when its UK publishing priorities narrowed.
- She preserved the idea, evolved it, and later developed it with Kate Saxton at another publisher.
Use Seasons To Sustain Research Momentum
- Treat research productivity as seasonal, alternating periods of ideas and production with deliberate rest.
- Celebrate a completed book before immediately pursuing the next output.
