English Literature

English Literature is the largest subject area within the Department of Humanities with, currently, 26 lecturers.  We have staff actively researching and publishing work in the periods from the Renaissance to the present day and our teaching is always informed by up-to-date expertise in the subject.

We offer undergraduate programmes in English Literature as a single honours subject or in combination with a range of other subjects including English Language, Creative Writing, Film, History or Journalism.  We have a new Taught Masters programme and a Masters of Research (MRes) in English Literature, and our staff are always interested in offering supervision for those wishing to study for a PhD.  For more information on the courses we offer, please see Studying English & Creative Writing.

We have particular research strengths in literature of the Early Modern period, the long eighteenth century and the twentieth century.  The members of our eighteenth-century subject group recently carried out a large Leverhulme-funded project on Before Depression, and we have a partnership with Shandy Hall, the literary house associated with the eighteenth-century novelist Laurence Sterne.  The department hosts a Visiting Professor, Stuart Sim, a specialist in seventeenth-century studies and modern literary theory, who is editor for the literary journal Bunyan Studies.  We hold many events and activities including major literature conferences, poetry readings, a seminar series, lectures by visiting speakers and group trips for students to literary houses.  For a list of our upcoming events, please see our Conferences & Events page.

English Literature at Northumbria has grown rapidly in recent years and is a strong and dynamic subject area at the University.  Our staff are committed to fostering the development and success of our students and to promoting the study of literature in the wider community.

(Image 'Reading Shakespeare' by Lauren Mulkey, 2001, reprinted with permission by Dr. Scott Howard)

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