English

Alex studied English at Warwick (BA) and Cambridge (MPhil, PhD), working on Romantic period poetry and prose. He was a junior research fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge, and taught at Trinity and the University of East Anglia before coming to Lucy in 2021. His research focuses on Romantic writing and its relations to the history and theory of literary criticism.

Clare is Lucy Cavendish College Director of Studies in English Part II and Bye-Fellow.

She read English at Selwyn College, Cambridge, where she went on to study for her MPhil and PhD. She was named one of the BBC/AHRC 'New Generation Thinkers' for 2015-2016 and was elected to a Junior Research Fellowship at Trinity in 2016. She was also a College Lecturer and Director of Studies at Trinity 2019-2021.

Her first book, Plotting Disability in the Nineteenth-Century Novel (Edinburgh University Press, 2019), explored the role of disabled characters in the nineteenth-century novel. Her current project examines life-writing and fiction in relation to one another in the Victorian period, in particular life-writing by and about female novelists, including Elizabeth Gaskell, Margaret Oliphant, Harriet Martineau and George Eliot. For more information about her work, please see my profile on the English faculty website.

She mainly teaches Part I Paper 1 (practical criticism), Part I Paper 7a (1830-1945), Part I Paper 7b (1870-present), and Part II Papers 10 (1847-1872) and 11 (Prose forms). She supervises dissertations on a range of nineteenth- and twentieth-century topics.

Jessica completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge, and her M.Phil at Trinity College Dublin, and attained her undergraduate degree at the University of Sydney, Australia.

She researches literature and culture from the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century. She is especially interested in women's writing, the history and philosophy of education, the history of children's literature, and intersections between Christian theology and western literature. With Louise Joy, she is co-editing a volume of essays entitled A Literary Education: Women's Pedagogical Exchange, 1690-1850, which examines the ways in which eighteenth-century discourses of education shaped what it meant for women to write, and the ways in which women writers shaped eighteenth-century discourses of education.

I was working in local government when I enrolled at Greenwich Community College to add an A-level in English Literature to the set I had acquired some years earlier. Lucy Cavendish has been wonderful in supporting me and I am very grateful to have a fantastic Director of Studies in my subject, who is always there to answer any questions I have and ensure I’m receiving the best academic support from my supervisors. The college library is also particularly well-stocked for books I’ll need throughout my studies in English.  I have really enjoyed studying papers on Renaissance and Shakespeare -- I am currently working on my dissertation on Ben Jonson, a writer who inspired me when I studied the topic of City and Space in Renaissance Literature!

I trained as an electrical-mechanical fitter and made Formula One car parts before taking A-levels at New College Swindon. The Cambridge degree is fascinating, covering English from Medieval times up to the latest post-modern theory, with plenty of room for you to make choices that play to your interests. The staff and fellows at Lucy go out of their way to make you feel welcome and included and able to study, while encouraging you to make the most of your time at Cambridge. During my three years, I won University prizes for poetry and new theatre writing, and was encouraged all the way by Lucy. The only regret I have is not starting the degree earlier.  I am now doing a practice-based poetry PhD in Falmouth. 

I came to Lucy Cavendish with Open University credits, having previously trained in drama and ballet, and worked in retail, fitness and the nightclub industry. While Lucy Cavendish is one of the smaller colleges, it still retains the traditions, such as gown clad Formal Hall dining, that make Cambridge such a beautiful and exciting place to study. Being a ‘mature woman’ in no way means we miss out on anything that the University has to offer; societies and our annual June Event make sure of that! The English Literature course allows for a lot of freedom when choosing texts you wish to focus on. While you cannot hide from the classics forever, you are able to indulge your own passions and tastes. For me this has meant reading as many plays as possible from every period we have studied, while for some of my classmates this has meant avoiding plays and focusing on poetry with equal vigour.

I had worked in the City and had children when I enrolled on an Access to HE Diploma at Huntingdonshire Regional College.  Applying to Cambridge University turned out to be one of the best things I have ever done. Although the application procedure was daunting, the staff in the admissions department were always very welcoming and helpful. I was worried that as an older student I would feel lonely and out of place. I couldn't have been more wrong: there are women of all ages at Lucy and there is a very friendly atmosphere. The fellows are all very supportive and there is a real feeling that everyone wants you to do well. I have remained in touch with many friends I made at Lucy and have memories that I will cherish forever.   I am currently researching literary royalism at the University of Oxford.