Research in English Literature

The Department of English Literature at Birmingham is a leading centre of research in English Literature and Culture.

The diverse research interests and approaches of the department ensure a vibrant and dynamic research community. We challenge disciplinary and pedagogical boundaries, and produce connected, innovative work that advances traditional methods of scholarship.

Our research themes

Our research projects

  • Everything to Everybody

    Unlocking the world's first great people's Shakespeare Library for all.

  • Imagined Futures

    A rediscovered unique collection of science and technology writings is informing the very nature and practices of modern futurology.

  • Compositor

    A database of eighteenth-century printers’ ornaments.

  • Symbiosis

    The role of the arts and the humanities in natural history museums and collections.

  • The Riddle Ages

    Translations of the entire early medieval riddle tradition

  • Arts of Place

    Cultural histories of landscape, locality and environment.

  • The Network for New York School Studies

    AHRC-funded network where researchers and creative practitioners can connect and collaborate

Research centres

Department of English Literature