I research Victorian representations of disease, and especially contagious diseases, recently focusing principally on that theme in the novels of Charlotte Brontë. I have been teaching at York St John University since 2010, having completed my PhD at the University of York. I completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice in 2014 and am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
I teach on modules across all year groups, and contribute to the MA as well as supervising PhDs in the department, I designed and direct modules on contagion and infection in literature, and on Victorian literature.
My current research is primarily interested in the Brontës, in various different contexts. I have written about the significance of rabies in Charlotte Brontë's "Shirley," and my monograph, "Charlotte Brontë and Contagion" was published in 2024, and a chapter on the representation of reading and rereading the Brontës in popular culture will appear in an edited collection, "The Brontës and the Arts" this year. I am currently writing about Charlotte Brontë's many and complex uses of her pseudonym, Currer Bell, for another edited collection, and am preparing a handbook on "Reading the Brontës" for Routledge. I have written several articles for "The Conversation" about the Brontës, on topics from "trigger warnings" to TB, and have also co-authored articles on satire, its history and contemporary significance with my colleague Dr Adam J Smith.
Recent publications
I am the co-founder of the York Research Unit for the Study of Satire, and host a monthly podcast on the form, function, future and history of satire with my colleague Adam Smith.
