Mitchell Gunn

Mitchell Gunn's dissertation, "Playing to Win: Activity and Outcome Valuation in Contemporary Literature and Video Games," explores the intersections between contemporary literary criticism and the emergent field of game studies, especially to examine how both readers and players adopt and pursue "win conditions" for their encounters with a particular work. This framework uniquely enables a rich, nuanced engagement with the full range of aesthetic experience, including and exceeding the traditional forms of interpretation privileged within literary scholarship.

Alongside his scholarly research, Mitchell also engages in creative work, building on his experience in U of T's MA in Creative Writing program. His poetry has been published in the Feathertale Review and filling Station.

List of Publications

Scholarly Publications:

• Gunn, Mitchell. “How/Why We Read/Play: Conceptualizing Reader Goals in the Game of Literature.” Teaching Games and Game Studies in the Literature Classroom, edited by Tison Pugh and Lynn Ramey, Bloomsbury, pp. 71-8. 22 September 2022.

Creative Publications:

• Gunn, Mitchell. “A Field Study.” Feathertale Review, no. 25, December 2020.
• “Instructions.” filling Station, no. 73, Winter 2020.
• “The Prairie Scene” and “Unconscious.” The Lamp, vol. 9, 9 September 2019.
• “These Materials.” Echolocation, vol. 16, 22 October 2018.
• “I Only Dance When I Do the Dishes.” Hart House Review, no. 27, 8 April 2018.