PhD in Literary Studies

There has been an explosive interest in writing and publishing autobiography, autofiction, memoir, autotheory, lyrical essays, and other forms of first-person literature since the start of the millennium. Also emerging is a rich body of medical memoirs, written by health professionals and those whom they treat. As yet, the literary scholarship analysing these forms, including experimental and hybrid incarnations, is only just developing. Yet this varied body of life-writing tells us much about how we culturally and socially understand ourselves and the world we find ourselves experiencing. The writing of those who are under-represented, minoritised, discriminated against, or suffering climate-related harms has much from which scholarship can learn. Candidates interested in studying these or other aspects of contemporary life-writing or, through their own creative practice, producing innovative forms of life-writing, are invited to work under the supervision of life-writing expert, Professor Jennifer Cooke, and another English faculty member aligned to the project’s areas of interest.