I studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, where I did an undergraduate degree in French and German, followed by an MPhil in European Literature and a PhD in contemporary French poetry, supervised by Jean Khalfa. Before coming to Birmingham as Lecturer, I taught at Trinity College, Cambridge and at the université Paris XII Val-de-Marne, and was a Research Fellow in French Literature at St. John’s College, Cambridge.

I teach on a range of courses in French Studies and European Studies, with a particular focus on translation, literature and visual art. My final-year specialist option is on links between modern French writers and artists.

I have been awarded prizes for my work for the Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching, which included a research project on teaching art within modern languages. With colleagues from the Universities of Leeds and Cambridge, I organised a study day on teaching visual arts in modern language undergraduate courses.

I would be very glad to hear from students wishing to pursue doctoral research in the areas of modern French poetry and word-image interactions.

I also regularly supervise projects and dissertations by students taking the MA in Translation Studies

I have two main areas of interest in modern and contemporary French Studies: poetry, and the relationship between literature and the visual arts. My first book, on the work of the poets André du Bouchet, Philippe Jaccottet and Bernard Noël, was published by Rodopi in 2006. Writing Art: French Literary Responses to the Work of Alberto Giacometti (Peter Lang, 2011) examines poetic and critical responses to Giacometti’s work by major literary figures from Breton to Bonnefoy. I have published articles and presented papers on poetry, poésie critique and the livre d’artiste. I am co-editor with Stephen Forcer of a special issue of Nottingham French Studies on the French Avant-Garde (2011).

With colleagues from across the UK and Ireland, I co-organise an international network examining contemporary French poetic practice. An edited volume and journal special issue are in preparation.

I am Erasmus tutor for incoming students from Francophone countries.

The international conference Poetic Practice and the Practice of Poetics, of which I was co-organiser, took place in London and Cambridge in July 2010. A network for the study of contemporary poetic practice has emerged from this event and further workshops and open access events are planned. These will include collaborative activities with poets, artists, musicians and translators.

I regularly speak at the Society for French Studies annual conference and other occasional conferences.

Sole-authored books

• Writing Art: French Literary Responses to the Work of Alberto Giacometti (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2011)
• Provisionality and the Poem: Transition in the Work of du Bouchet, Jaccottet and Noël (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2006)

Edited books and special issues

• with Hugues Azérad, Michael G. Kelly and Nina Parish, Pour approcher le présent : Prémisses et pratiques de la création poétique en français (Oxford: Peter Lang, forthcoming)
• with Hugues Azérad, Michael G. Kelly and Nina Parish, special issue of French Forum on Contemporary French Poetic Practice (forthcoming)
• with Stephen Forcer, The French Avant-Garde (= Nottingham French Studies, 50,3 (2011))  

Articles in refereed journals

• '"Le temps rhumain": Time in the Work of Philippe Beck', in special issue on Contemporary French Poetic Practice, ed. by Hugues Azerad et al (= French Forum, forthcoming)
• with Stephen Forcer, 'Dedication and Friendship in Two Livres d'artistes: Parler seul (Tzara-Miró) and Vivantes cendres, innommées (Leiris-Giacometti)', in The French Avant-Garde, ed. by Forcer and Wagstaff (= Nottingham French Studies, 50,3 (2011), pp. 103-16) 
• with Stephen Forcer, Introduction, in The French Avant-Garde, ed. by Forcer and Wagstaff (= Nottingham French Studies, 50,3 (2011), pp. 1-11
• ‘Des matières, non des images: Bernard Noël’s Creative Art Criticism’, French Studies, special issue on ‘New Ekphrastic Poetics’, ed. by Susan Harrow (=French Studies 64, 3 (2010)), pp. 290-301
• ‘Loss and Presence in three Poetic Texts of Mourning’, French Forum, 32, 1-2 (2007), 137-52
• ‘Ponge and du Bouchet on Giacometti: Art Criticism as Testimony', Modern Language Review, 101 (2006), 75-89
• ‘The Creative Gesture: Bernard Noël's Poetry and Art Criticism', Dalhousie French Studies, 71 (2005), 53-63

Chapters in books and short articles

• ‘André du Bouchet: “Accidents”’, in Twentieth-Century French Poetry: A Critical Anthology, ed. by Peter Collier and Hugues Azérad (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), ISBN 978-0-521-71398-6, pp. 163-69.
• (With J. Khalfa) ‘Poetry', in Encyclopedia of Modern French Thought, ed. by Christopher John Murray (Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2004)
• ‘André du Bouchet and Pierre Tal Coat: Sous le linteau en forme de joug', in The Dialogue Between Painting and Poetry, ed. by J. Khalfa (Cambridge: Black Apollo Press, 2001), pp. 105-126
• ‘L'Étrangeté: André du Bouchet, Philippe Jaccottet and Translation', Mantis, Stanford University, 2 (2001), 121-137

 Book Reviews

I regularly review books for the Modern Language Review and French Studies.