Susan is Reader in Romanticism, with research and teaching interests that span the nineteenth century.
Susan is Reader in Romanticism at Canterbury Christ Church University, and Co-director for the International Centre for Victorian Women Writers (ICVWW). She has research interests that span the ‘long’ nineteenth century, in particular around life writing, women’s writing, gothic literature, and authorial and textual afterlives.
Susan is Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGCLTHE). She currently convenes modules including The Art of Criticism: Writing about Literature (Year 1); British Romanticism: 1785-1831 (Year 2); True Story: The Art of Nonfiction (Year 3); Dissertation Foundation (Year 3); Nineteenth-Century Crime Fiction (MA), and contributes to several others.
Susan’s research focuses on Romantic and Victorian literature, with an emphasis on life writing and literary nonfiction, women’s writing, gothic literature, and authorial and textual afterlives. Susan’s first book, Romantic Women’s Life Writing: Reputation and Afterlife was published by Manchester University Press in 2019. She is currently writing a monograph on Mary Shelley commissioned for the Key Popular Women Writers series, to be published in 2025.
Susan has supervised research students working on Romantic and Victorian literature and culture, as well as Neo-Victorian studies. A full list of research student supervision (past and present) can be found below.
Susan has given a range of invited talks and keynotes, academic conference papers, public lectures and public engagement activities. Most recently, she was awarded a grant by the Being Human Festival to run a 'Hub' of events across Kent in 2023 around the theme of 'Women Making Sense'.