The English Research Centre

The Centre takes an innovative approach to research, combined with an engagement with communities beyond academia. We explore hybrid and inter-disciplinary ways of working and in our examination of marginal, experimental and emergent practices. We are concerned with looking at the overlooked and teasing out readings of neglected and/or transgressive authors and cultural practices. From looking at writing conflict in Northern Ireland to Victorian Sensation fiction, from discontented minds in Early Modern Drama to the representation of serial killers in film and fiction, from African modernism to experimental poetry, from the hidden meanings of place names to discourse analysis – our work is searching, critically-engaged and culturally relevant.

The Centre’s strategic vision is:

To provide a dynamic realisation of the role and significance of literature, language, and creative practices in a diverse and complex 21st Century world, and to make a significant contribution to debates around the nature and experience of identity and community in a prolonged period of cultural crisis.

There are two main strands to our work growing out of these long-term commitments: Creativity & Wellbeing and Writing & Diversity.

Our researchers were returned to Unit of Assessment 27 in the Research Excellence Framework 2021. The results showed that over 70% of our research was deemed to be internationally excellent or world leading, with 21% being graded at the highest possible level of 4*. Furthermore, 75% of our work presented as having an impact beyond academia was deemed to be internationally excellent.

You can find the latest news about our exciting research on our News and Events blog.

Research themes

English Literature research covers major periods and genres including Renaissance, Shakespeare, 18th-century Literature, and 20th and 21st-century poetry, drama and fiction.

English Language and Linguistics research is concerned with Pragmatics, Cognitive linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Stylistics, Lexicography, Onomastics and the study of the Scots language.

Creative Practice research is conducted in poetry, fiction, autobiography, biography, scriptwriting and performance.

Please click on the links below to identify staff in each of our subject areas:

ENGLISH LITERATURE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS

CREATIVE PRACTICE

Projects

Please see our Projects page for information about several key research projects currently underway within the group.

PhD opportunities

We welcome PhD applications corresponding to the themes and topics listed above, please use our subject pages to identify our staff and their specific research interests.

Research Seminar

The English Research Seminar has been running continuously for around 15 years and meets seven times annually (including the annual research day), providing a space for staff, research students and invited speakers to share their research in a supportive and engaged environment. Our guests over the years have included: Robert Hampson (Royal Holloway), Adrian Howe (Griffith University, Australia), Felicity Deamer (Edinburgh), Jo Angouri (Warwick), Mamta Sagar (Shristi Institute, Bengaluru, India), Petra Rau (UEA), Andrew van der Vlies (Adelaide), Sanja Nivesjö (Uppsala University, Sweden), Alec Finlay (poet), Simon Kovesi (Oxford Brookes), Kaye Mitchell (Manchester), Jenn Ashworth (Lancaster), Sindiswa Busuku (University of Cape Town), Jackie Haynes (Cumbria), Joseph Darlington (Futureworks), Chris Vardy (Manchester), Heena Hussain (Manchester), Stephen O’Neill (Trinity College Dublin), Éadaoin Agnew (Kingston), Barbara Barrow (University of Lund, Sweden).

If you are interested in attending the series as a researcher or member of the public, please contact Scott Thurston using the details below. You can view announcements of upcoming events on our news and events blog using the Menu above.

Contact

Prof Scott Thurston FEA
Director of the English Research Centre
S.Thurston@salford.ac.uk