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English Language and Literature research – Bath Spa University

Area of research excellence: English Language and Literature

Creative Writing and English Literature at Bath Spa University have a deep and meaningful interdisciplinary relationship with one another, in which creative and critical practice are directly and vitally linked.

This enables a kind of innovative, rigorous, and socially engaged praxis that can be seen in individual research outputs and impact, collaboration through research centres and beyond, externally funded research projects, and coherent strategic planning across this research area.

The symbiosis between creative and critical practice is a distinctive feature of our individual outputs, research environment, and research impact, as is our commitment to producing innovative, rigorous and socially engaged research. This has enabled us to extend and consolidate our position as research leaders in areas such as:

  • creative writing
  • ecocriticism
  • gothic studies
  • writing for young people
  • history of the book and
  • digital writing and criticism.

Our approach to research impact builds on our extensive and substantial track record of public outreach. But it extends well beyond readings, lectures, and performances to demonstrate how creative writers and literary scholars are often uniquely placed to shape how individuals apprehend and articulate the complexities of their own lived experience.

Our shared commitment to the interrelationships between creative and critical practice has enabled us to develop distinctive and nuanced dialogues with communities outside of the university. These qualities were evidenced in the 2014 impact submission, but the case studies highlighted here demonstrate how our understanding and management of impact has improved in sophistication and effect.

Research and academic outputs

Go to ResearchSPAce

The living world: Nan Shepherd and environmental thought
book

Walton, S (2020) The living world: Nan Shepherd and environmental thought. Bloomsbury, London. ISBN 9781350153226


Old books and digital publishing: Eighteenth-Century Collections Online
book

Gregg, S.H (2020) Old books and digital publishing: Eighteenth-Century Collections Online. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ISBN 9781108767415


The subject of Britain: 1603-25
book

Ivic, C (2020) The subject of Britain: 1603-25. Manchester University Press, Manchester. ISBN 9780719088704


Elitism: a progressive defence
book

Glaser, E (2020) Elitism: a progressive defence. Biteback Publishing, London. ISBN 9781785906077


Forest green
book

Pullinger, K (2020) Forest green. Doubleday Canada, Toronto. ISBN 9780385683043


Reclaiming Romanticism: towards an ecopoetics of decolonization
book

Rigby, K (2020) Reclaiming Romanticism: towards an ecopoetics of decolonization. Bloomsbury Academic, London. ISBN 9781474290593


The shapeless unease: a year of not sleeping
book

Harvey, S (2020) The shapeless unease: a year of not sleeping. Jonathan Cape. ISBN 9781787332027


Shadow
book

Christopher, L and Suvorova, A (2019) Shadow. Lantana, London. ISBN 9781911373834


Thomas De Quincey: selected writings
book

Morrison, R, ed. (2019) Thomas De Quincey: selected writings. Oxford University Press, Oxford. ISBN 9780199676897


Rebel writers: the accidental feminists
book

Brayfield, C (2019) Rebel writers: the accidental feminists. Bloomsbury, London. ISBN 9781448217496


The Regency revolution: Jane Austen, Napoleon, Lord Byron and the making of the modern world
book

Morrison, R (2019) The Regency revolution: Jane Austen, Napoleon, Lord Byron and the making of the modern world. Atlantic Books, London. ISBN 9781786491237


The heartland: finding and losing schizophrenia
book

Filer, N (2019) The heartland: finding and losing schizophrenia. Faber & Faber, London. ISBN 9780571345953


Women, periodicals and print culture in Britain, 1890s-1920s: the Modernist period
book

Binckes, F and Snyder, C, eds. (2019) Women, periodicals and print culture in Britain, 1890s-1920s: the Modernist period. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. ISBN 9781474450645


Hannah Lynch (1859-1904): Irish writer, cosmopolitan, New Woman
book

Binckes, F and Laing, K (2019) Hannah Lynch (1859-1904): Irish writer, cosmopolitan, New Woman. Cork University Press, Cork. ISBN 9781782053330


Self heal
book

Walton, S (2018) Self heal. Boiler House Press, Norwich. ISBN 9781911343462


The weather in Normal
book

Etter, C (2018) The weather in Normal. Seren, Bridgend. ISBN 9781781724590


The wren: a biography
book

Moss, S (2018) The wren: a biography. Square Peg, London. ISBN 9781910931936


Our homesick songs
book

Hooper, E (2018) Our homesick songs. Penguin, London. ISBN 9780241273807


The colour of the sun
book

Almond, D (2018) The colour of the sun. Hodder Children's Books, London. ISBN 9781444919554


The paper lovers
book

Woodward, G (2018) The paper lovers. Picador, London. ISBN 9781509847983


J.H. Prynne, The oval window: a new annotated edition
book

Reeve, N.H and Kerridge, R, eds. (2018) J.H. Prynne, The oval window: a new annotated edition. Bloodaxe Books, Hexham. ISBN 9781780371269


Project boast
book

Bentham, R and Hallett, A, eds. (2018) Project boast. Triarchy Press, Axminster. ISBN 9781911193418


The friendly ones
book

Hensher, P (2018) The friendly ones. Fourth Estate, London. ISBN 9780008175641


Happiness: a novel
book

Forna, A (2018) Happiness: a novel. Grove Press, New York, NY. ISBN 9780802127556


The western wind
book

Harvey, S (2018) The western wind. Jonathan Cape, London. ISBN 9781787330597


Sweetpea
book

Skuse, C.J (2017) Sweetpea. HQ, London. ISBN 9780008216719


Legoland
book

Woodward, G (2017) Legoland. Picador, London. ISBN 9781447288695


The power
book

Alderman, N (2016) The power. Viking, London. ISBN 9780670919987


Hillstation
book

Mukherjee, R (2016) Hillstation. Oldcastle Books, Harpenden. ISBN 9781843447429


Tales of persuasion
book

Hensher, P (2016) Tales of persuasion. Fourth Estate, London. ISBN 9780007459636


Before the war
book

Weldon, F (2016) Before the war. Head of Zeus, London. ISBN 9781784082086


The past
book

Hadley, T (2015) The past. Jonathan Cape, London. ISBN 9780224101691


Joe all alone
book

Nadin, J (2015) Joe all alone. Little, Brown Books for Younger Readers, London. ISBN 9780349124551


The world before snow
book

Liardet, T (2015) The world before snow. Carcanet, Manchester. ISBN 9781847772091


Dancing with disaster : environmental histories, narratives, and ethics for perilous times
book

Rigby, K (2015) Dancing with disaster : environmental histories, narratives, and ethics for perilous times. Under the sign of nature: explorations in ecocriticism . University of Virginia Press, Charlottesville. ISBN 9780813936901


That devil's trick: hypnotism and the Victorian popular imagination
book

Hughes, W (2015) That devil's trick: hypnotism and the Victorian popular imagination. Manchester University Press, Manchester. ISBN 9780719074837


Etta and Otto and Russell and James
book

Hooper, E (2015) Etta and Otto and Russell and James. Penguin, London. ISBN 9780241003329


Guilty but insane: mind and law in golden age detective fiction
book

Walton, S (2015) Guilty but insane: mind and law in golden age detective fiction. Oxford University Press, Oxford. ISBN 9780198723325


Dear thief
book

Harvey, S (2014) Dear thief. Jonathan Cape. ISBN 9780224101721


The tightrope walkers
book

Almond, D (2014) The tightrope walkers. Penguin, London. ISBN 9780241003237


The emperor waltz
book

Hensher, P (2014) The emperor waltz. Fourth Estate, London. ISBN 0007459572


Virginia Woolf in Manhattan
book

Gee, M (2014) Virginia Woolf in Manhattan. Telegram, London. ISBN 9781846591884


Landing gear: a novel
book

Pullinger, K (2014) Landing gear: a novel. Touchstone Books, New York: London. ISBN 9781476751375


Cold blood: adventures with reptiles and amphibians
book

Kerridge, R (2014) Cold blood: adventures with reptiles and amphibians. Chatto & Windus, London. ISBN 9780701187958


The dynamite room
book

Hewitt, J (2014) The dynamite room. Simon & Schuster, London. ISBN 9781471127427


Vanishing
book

Woodward, G (2014) Vanishing. Picador, London. ISBN 9780330518642


Imagined sons
book

Etter, C (2014) Imagined sons. Seren, Bridgend. ISBN 9781781721513


Hooey Higgins and the storm
book

Voake, S (2014) Hooey Higgins and the storm. Walker Books. ISBN 9781406343311


Fiction published under a pseudonym
book

Brain, T (2014) Fiction published under a pseudonym. Harper Collins, London.


Ready reader one: recovering reading as an ambient practice
book_section

Gadd, I (2020) 'Ready reader one: recovering reading as an ambient practice.' In: Abba, T, Dovey, J and Pullinger, K, eds. Ambient literature: towards a new poetics of situated writing and reading practices. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 27-51. ISBN 9783030414559


Understanding empathy through a study of autistic life writing: on the importance of neurodiverse morality
book_section

Stenning, A (2020) 'Understanding empathy through a study of autistic life writing: on the importance of neurodiverse morality.' In: Rosquvist, H, Chown, N and Stenning, A, eds. Neurodiversity studies: a new critical paradigm. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 108-124. ISBN 9780367338312


Lady Morgan and "the babbling page of history": cultural transition as performance in the Irish national tale
book_section

Lloyd, N (2020) 'Lady Morgan and "the babbling page of history": cultural transition as performance in the Irish national tale.' In: Connolly, C, ed. Irish literature in transition, 1780-1830. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 206-225. ISBN 9781108492980


Autism and cognitive embodiment: steps towards a non-ableist walking literature
book_section

Stenning, A (2019) 'Autism and cognitive embodiment: steps towards a non-ableist walking literature.' In: Borthwick, D, Marland, P and Stenning, A, eds. Walking, landscape and environment. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 149-167. ISBN 9781138630109


Body burdens: the materiality of work in Rita Wong's 'Forage'
book_section

Walton, S (2019) 'Body burdens: the materiality of work in Rita Wong's 'Forage'.' In: Walton, J.L and Luker, E, eds. Poetry and work: work in modern and contemporary Anglophone poetry. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, pp. 263-290. ISBN 9783030261245


‘A story of treasure, war, and wild adventure’: hero-worship, imperial masculinities, and inter-generational ideology in H. Rider Haggard’s 1880s fiction
book_section

Goodman, H (2019) '‘A story of treasure, war, and wild adventure’: hero-worship, imperial masculinities, and inter-generational ideology in H. Rider Haggard’s 1880s fiction.' In: Brown, M, Barry, A.M and Begiato, J, eds. Martial masculinities: imagining and experiencing the military in the long nineteenth century. Manchester University Press, Manchester, pp. 232-254. ISBN 9781526135629


Women, drama and print culture 1890–1929
book_section

Wright, E.H (2019) 'Women, drama and print culture 1890–1929.' In: Binckes, F and Snyder, C, eds. Women, periodicals and print culture in Britain, 1890s-1920s: the modernist period. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, pp. 92-105. ISBN 9781474450645


May Hobbs
book_section

Gee, M (2017) 'May Hobbs.' In: Hunt, S, Kidd, D and Page, R, eds. Protest! Stories of resistance. Comma Press, Manchester, pp. 237-265. ISBN 9781905583737


Deep sustainability: ecopoetics, enjoyment and ecstatic hospitality
book_section

Rigby, K (2017) 'Deep sustainability: ecopoetics, enjoyment and ecstatic hospitality.' In: Johns-Putra, A, Parham, J and Squire, L, eds. Literature and sustainability: concept, text and culture. Manchester University Press, Manchester, pp. 52-75. ISBN 9780719099670


Aggressive intimacy: mass markets and the 'Blackwood’s Magazine' coterie
book_section

Morrison, R (2016) 'Aggressive intimacy: mass markets and the 'Blackwood’s Magazine' coterie.' In: Bowers, W and H.L, Crummé, eds. Re-evaluating the literary coterie, 1580–1830: from Sidney to Blackwood's. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, pp. 181-200. ISBN 9781137545527


Crossroads
book_section

Forna, A (2016) 'Crossroads.' In: Freeman, J, ed. Freeman's: the best new writing on family. Freeman's (2). Grove Press, New York, NY, pp. 31-53. ISBN 9781611855401


'Madness and masculinity': male patients in London asylums and Victorian culture
book_section

Goodman, H (2015) ''Madness and masculinity': male patients in London asylums and Victorian culture.' In: Trowbridge, S and Knowles, T, eds. Insanity and the lunatic asylum in the nineteenth century. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 149-166. ISBN 9781848934528


Masculinity, tourism and adventure in English nineteenth-century travel fiction
book_section

Goodman, H (2015) 'Masculinity, tourism and adventure in English nineteenth-century travel fiction.' In: Thurnell-Read, T and Casey, M, eds. Men, masculinities, travel and tourism. Palgrave Macmillan, London, pp. 13-27. ISBN 9781137341457


Stories between storeys: the uses of stairs to gain domestic control
article

Kaznowska, H (2020) 'Stories between storeys: the uses of stairs to gain domestic control.' Early Modern Literary Studies, 29. ISSN 1201-2459


True crime narratives
article

Peters, F (2020) 'True crime narratives.' Crime Fiction Studies, 1 (1). pp. 23-40. ISSN 2517-7982


Nature trauma: ecology and the returning soldier in First World War English and Scottish fiction, 1918-1932’
article

Walton, S (2019) 'Nature trauma: ecology and the returning soldier in First World War English and Scottish fiction, 1918-1932’.' Journal of Medical Humanities. ISSN 1041-3545


“From the slave’s point of view”: towards a phenomenology of witnessing in Frederick Douglass’ 1845 Narrative
article

Lewis, J (2019) '“From the slave’s point of view”: towards a phenomenology of witnessing in Frederick Douglass’ 1845 Narrative.' ESQ: A Journal of Nineteenth-Century American Literature and Culture, 65 (2). pp. 257-291. ISSN 0093-8297


'Careful living': Frederick Douglass's phenomenology of embodied experience
article

Lewis, J (2019) ''Careful living': Frederick Douglass's phenomenology of embodied experience.' Textual Practice, 33 (10). pp. 1657-1672. ISSN 0950-236X


Wordsworth among the fascists
article

Strachan, J (2019) 'Wordsworth among the fascists.' Essays in Criticism, 69 (1). pp. 37-50. ISSN 0014-0856


Bitter memories: Spenser’s 'A view of the present state of Ireland'
article

Ivic, C (2018) 'Bitter memories: Spenser’s 'A view of the present state of Ireland'.' Éire-Ireland, 53 (3 & 4). pp. 9-35. ISSN 0013-2683


"A buried land and a blazing source": Ted Hughes and William Golding
article

Presley, N (2018) '"A buried land and a blazing source": Ted Hughes and William Golding.' Ted Hughes Society Journal, 7 (1). pp. 77-88. ISSN 2051-7270


"The grocers honour": or, taking the City seriously in 'The knight of the burning pestle'
article

Hill, T (2017) '"The grocers honour": or, taking the City seriously in 'The knight of the burning pestle'.' Early Theatre, 20 (2). pp. 159-178. ISSN 2293-7609


A companion to Blayney
article

Gadd, I (2017) 'A companion to Blayney.' The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, 111 (3). pp. 379-406. ISSN 0006-128X


Canals, commerce and the construction of nation in Sydney Owenson’s O’Donnel
article

Lloyd, N (2017) 'Canals, commerce and the construction of nation in Sydney Owenson’s O’Donnel.' Romantic Textualities: Literature and Print Culture, 1780–1840, 22. pp. 52-65. ISSN 1748-0116


'Euer Obedient in His Studies': Thomas Middleton and the City, 1620–1622
article

Hill, T (2017) ''Euer Obedient in His Studies': Thomas Middleton and the City, 1620–1622.' The London Journal, 42 (2). pp. 137-150. ISSN 0305-8034


English bards and Scotch biography: John Galt’s 'Life of Lord Byron'
article

Morrison, R (2016) 'English bards and Scotch biography: John Galt’s 'Life of Lord Byron'.' The Byron Journal, 44 (1). pp. 27-40. ISSN 0301-7257


“Rebellion in the Celestial Empire”: Sino-Irish sympathy in Sydney Owenson’s 'Florence Macarthy'
article

Lloyd, N (2016) '“Rebellion in the Celestial Empire”: Sino-Irish sympathy in Sydney Owenson’s 'Florence Macarthy'.' European Romantic Review, 27 (1). pp. 39-54. ISSN 1050-9585


Stitching a life, telling a story: sewing in 'Jane Eyre'
article

Brain, T (2014) 'Stitching a life, telling a story: sewing in 'Jane Eyre'.' Women's Writing, 21 (4). pp. 464-487. ISSN 1747-5848


The Book of Hours (2018) [REF2021 collection]
artefact

English, L (2021) The Book of Hours (2018) [REF2021 collection].


Subverting the Sonnet: Poems (2016-2020) [REF2021 collection]
artefact

Liardet, T (2021) Subverting the Sonnet: Poems (2016-2020) [REF2021 collection].


Breathe (2018) [REF2021 collection]
artefact

Pullinger, K (2021) Breathe (2018) [REF2021 collection].


Science at the seaside: pleasure hunts in North Devon (2014-2017) [REF2021 collection]
artefact

Hadjiafxendi, K (2021) Science at the seaside: pleasure hunts in North Devon (2014-2017) [REF2021 collection].


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