Viva Survivors Select is a series of curated collections of the best of the Viva Survivors daily blog, a monthly zine of viva help on a variety of topics and themes taken from eight years of daily posts.

Viva Survivors Select 06 is the Expectations Issue! Twenty posts from the Viva Survivors archive exploring what vivas are like. What's the process? What really happens? How do you find out more? And, importantly, what do you do to get ready when you do know what to expect? There's a lot to unpack in this issue!

Each issue of Viva Survivors Select also includes new original writing by me to build on themes and offer more help. I take a page in the Expectations Issue to dig into video vivas and then share an original reflective game to help candidates explore their feelings ahead of the viva.

(formatted for A5 size, twenty pages including covers)

101 Steps To A Great Viva is a 24-page A5 zine to help postgraduate researchers as they prepare for their PhD viva. I share 101 actions that any PhD candidate can take to help them get ready for and have a great viva.

Created during a successful Kickstarter campaign in May 2023, 101 Steps To A Great Viva is my attempt to get someone to think proactively about their viva: what can you do to put yourself in a good position? What will you do?

I cover the viva from expectations to preparation, confidence-building to engaging with examiners. I'm extremely proud of the result and very grateful for the support I had to make it a reality.