Summary

I am Unit of Assessment co-Coordinator for UoA27 (English Language & Literature), and I teach contemporary literature.

My current research project examines the representation of Victorian scientific discourses in contemporary literature and culture. In the context of this project, I am working on a second monograph provisionally entitled Nineteenth-century Doctors, Naturalists and Explorers in Contemporary Historical Fiction (under contract with Anthem Press) which focuses on the recent and emergent field of the scientific historical novel.

As part of my work on the relationship between contemporary literature and the history of science I have edited and contributed to a special issue of the journal Victoriographies on ‘Neo-Victorian Experiments’ (2016) and a collection of essays on Exoticizing the Past in Contemporary Neo-Historical Fiction (2014).

My first monograph Re-Writing Women into Canadian History: Margaret Atwood and Anne Hébert (2013) won the Prix Scientifique Anne-Hébert.

Biography

I completed my undergraduate degree at the Université d’Avignon in 1997 before coming to the UK to study for an MA in Comparative Literature at the University of Kent in 1998.

I continued my postgraduate research at the University of Kent where I completed a PhD in Postcolonial Studies in 2004. My thesis focused on the recovery of female historical narratives absent from hegemonic and colonial versions of history in the work of Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood and Québécois author Anne Hébert.

I worked at a number of higher education institutions before being appointed as Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Portsmouth in 2006. I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2008 and became the Deputy Director of the Centre for Studies in Literature in 2018.

Research interests

My main area of research is contemporary historical fiction, including:

• the history of science and literature
• contemporary neo-historical fiction
• the neo-Victorian novel
• postcolonial writing (Canadian literature especially)

I especially welcome enquiries and applications from students wishing to study for an MRes or PhD with me in the area of contemporary historical fiction, neo-Victorian and neo-historical literature, the history of science and literature, and postcolonial writing (Canadian literature more particularly).

Media availability

I am happy to take calls and emails from media on my research, and am aware of the need to respond to journalists in a timely manner.

Interested journalists can also contact the University's Media and Communications team for support and advice on all media engagement, including out of hours.