Research centres and groups
- Samuel Beckett
- Children's Literature
- Early Modern Literature
- Medieval Literature
- Modern and Contemporary Literature
- Book History
Samuel Beckett
At the heart of our work on Samuel Beckett is the Beckett International Foundation (BIF), which includes three Nobel Laureates among its patrons, and is a charitable trust allied to English, French, and Film, Theatre and Television Studies (FTT). Its current co-directors are Ronan McDonald and Mark Nixon. Former co-directors and emeritus professors James Knowlson (French) and John Pilling are still active as BIF Advisors, whilst Mary Bryden (French), Jonathan Bignell and Graham Saunders (both FTT) and Maximilian de Gaynesford (Philosophy) also contribute to BIF activities. Stephen Thomson also publishes on Beckett and Dirk Van Hulle collaborates closely with Mark Nixon. This work comes from the largest concentration of Beckett scholars in the world. For further details of exciting new developments in Beckett Studies go to the BIF website. For MA work in Beckett look out for the new Modern and Contempary Literature MA (from 2008).
Children's Literature
Our work in Children's Literature takes place in The Centre for International Research in Childhood: Literature, Culture, Media (CIRCL) which was founded by Tony Watkins in 1996. Karin Lesnik-Oberstein took over as the Director of CIRCL in 2003 and works with Sue Walsh and Neil Cocks on different aspects of the cultural construction of the child. For details of its thriving MA in Children's Literature, its active postgraduate research programme, and its ongoing series of publications, see the CIRCL website.
Early Modern Literature
A good deal of our research into Early Modern Literature takes place in the Early Modern Research Centre (EMRC) whose Director is Michelle O'Callaghan. Those from English whose work is associated with the Centre are Cindy Becker, Chloe Houston, Mark Hutchings and Mary Morrissey. The focus of the work conducted by these scholars is on three broad themes: 'Cultures of Print and Manuscript'; 'Clergy and the Long Reformation'; and 'Cultures of Performance'. For full details of these research themes, its regular research seminars and its annual international conferences see the EMRC website. Other work associated with the Centre includes the cross-cultural research of Mark Hutchings on Anglo-Turkish encounters and the work by Chloe Houston on Early Modern Utopias. The major series Early Modern Literature in History (Palgrave Macmillan) is co-edited by Cedric Brown and the new MA (Res) Early Modern Literature and Drama is also attached to the centre.
Medieval Literature
At the heart of Medieval Literature and History at Reading is the Graduate Centre for Medieval Studies (GCMS). Contributing to the Centre from English is Phillipa Hardman. The GCMS celebrated its fortieth anniversary in 2005, making it one of the oldest centres of its kind in the country. Phillipa Hardman is currently working with Visiting Fellow Marianne Ailes (French) on a co-authored study of Middle English Romances of Charlemagne and on a parallel edition of the Anglo-Norman Destruction de Rome and Fierenbras and the Middle English Sowdone of Babylon. She is also jointly editing a collection of essays with GCMS colleague, Dr Anne Lawrence (History), entitled Women as Scribes and the Domestication of Print Culture. Phillipa Hardman contributes to the University-wide research theme, the Material Text Research Theme, with a fascicle on British Library collections in the ongoing series Index of Images in English Manuscripts. The MA in Medieval Studies is attached to the centre.
Modern and Contemporary Literature
Our work on Modern and Contemporary Literature revolves around the newly formed Modern and Contemporary Centre for Graduate Studies in Literature (MCC) whose Founding Director is Peter Robinson. The MCC spans the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in English and American Literature. Those from English whose work is associated with the Centre are Lucy Bending, Nicola Bradbury, David Brauner, Bryan Cheyette, Maddi Davis, Simon Dentith, Alison Donnell, John Holmes, Andrew Mangham, Ronan McDonald, Andrew Nash, Mark Nixon, Patricia Righelato, Matthew Scott, Stephen Thomson and Peter Stoneley. Much of the focus of the work conducted by these scholars is on three broad themes: 'Poetry; 'Literature and Science'; and 'Diasporism, Imperialism and Transatlanticism'. The MA (Res) in Modern and Contempary Literature is also attached to the centre.
Book History
At the heart of our work on Book History is the newly formed Centre for the History of Authorship, Writing and Publishing (CHAWP) whose founding Director is Andrew Nash. CHAWP collaborates with the Centre for Manuscript and Print Studies, University of London (Deputy Director, Simon Eliot), Typography, and the University Library. The centre will focus on literary research and will work with colleagues in CIRCL, BIF, EMRC and MCC. It will also contribute centrally to the University-wide research theme, the Material Text Research Theme. Colleagues in English whose work is associated with the centre include Bryan Cheyette, Simon Eliot, Grace Ioppolo, Patrick Parrinder and David Sutton. Patrick Parrinder is General Editor of the Oxford History of the Novel in English (OUP) and Andrew Nash is co-editor of volume seven of the Cambridge History of the Book in Britain. For details of its extensive research programme, see the CHAWP website. Look out also for the 2009 conference on 'Writing the History of the Novel'.