In the north transept of Lichfield’s ancient cathedral stands a sculpture of a young woman sitting under a willow tree. She holds a scroll in her hand and her head is dropped in a gesture of grief. Below her there is a plaque bearing the words above “What poet’s voice is smothered here in dust…”, penned by Walter Scott. Some steps ahead, beneath the Choir Pavement lies the poet and scholar Anna Seward.
Surfing 18th-century databases, library catalogues, taking notes and indulging in sessions of brainstorming has been my main occupation during this summer. Searching for a PhD project has proven an activity as frustrating as interesting. Granted, I have not found that one perfect original idea yet, but I have learnt a lot about other things in the […]
The first time I came across Newstead Abbey was when I received my second-hand copy of Leslie Marchand‘s “Byron: A Portrait”. In the middle of the biography, as usual, there is a section with pictures and portraits, one of them, of a beautiful building, with a footnote that read “Newstead Priory, Nottinghamshire”. I didn’t know […]
When Goodreads recommended me Passion: A Novel of the Romantic Poets , I was taken aback by both its title and its cover. It looked like the kind of badly written, cheap novel I do not like reading nor being seen with. However, fighting against my first impression, I decided to read some of my Goodreads’ friends’ reviews. […]
During my recent trip to Sheffield I could not miss the chance to visit the nearby Chatsworth House, known for being the real life Pemberley (Pride and Prejudice, Joe Wright, 2005). The following is a brief account of my visit, featuring my friends Begoña and Jana, who came along with me to see me at […]
After arriving home from Sheffield, I barely had time to put my bags down. At 7am the next morning I was on my way to UAB (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), my university, where I was to deliver a talk at the BSECS postgraduate conference. This year’s BSECS postgrad was organised by UAB PhD Alex Prunean and […]
Two weeks ago I had the chance to participate in the conference Summer of 1816: Creativity and Turmoil at Sheffield University. The experience, my first in the conference world, proved to be an excellent one. I had the most wonderful time, I learnt so much and I was left with a very positive feeling and […]
Last month I read Daisy Hay’s biography of the Romantics, one of the most recent accounts of the lives of the Romantic circle. This book had been in my to-read list for six years, since its publication in 2010, and I finally decided it was time for it. Young Romantics: The Shelleys, Byron and Other Tangled […]
The first time I came across Claire Démar was in my second year of undergrad. I was researching feminism during the late eighteenth-early nineteenth centuries. There were three factors that motivated that research. First of all, I have always been attracted to the history of the French Revolution. Secondly, I feel the need to learn […]
Charlotte Dacre was a minor British woman writer of the Romantic period, whose production places her within the Gothic tradition. As with may other authors, especially women, her name and work are nowadays hardly remembered, which makes studying her even more challenging and interesting. The first time I came across this writer was browsing Adriana […]
Francesca Blanch-Serrat