English Literature, Language and Creative Practice
The group 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.
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.
- Arts for the Blues in Berlin
- Lauren Pearl Holmes at ‘Preachers, Hearers, Readers and Scribes’ conference at Harvard
- Caroline Magennis at the Cheltenham Literature Festival
- Triple book launch 19 September
- Arts for the Blues interviewed by The Psychologist
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.
Areas of concentrated research activity include: experimental fiction, contemporary and 20th century poetry, performance and Shakespeare.
Please click on the links below to identify staff in each of our subject areas:
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS
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.
The group is represented in the Arts and Humanities Research Council North-West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership for the English Literature and Creative Writing pathways. The deadline has now passed for entry in the next academic year. The deadline for entry in the 2024-25 academic year will be in February 2024 (exact date TBC). See here for more details.
Our current PhD students are listed here.
Research Seminar
The English Research Seminar meets six times a year, providing a space for staff, research students and invited speakers to share their research in a supportive and engaged environment. Our visitors over the last few 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).
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
Research Lead
Professor of Poetry and Innovative Creative Practice
S.Thurston@salford.ac.uk
0161 295 3597