Centre for Research in the Romantic Era

At Nottingham Trent University we offer a unique approach to postgraduate research in the Romantic-era literature. Our team of internationally-known professors specialise in restoring to life long-forgotten writers, artists and performers. Study with us and we'll:

reshape your view of poets such as Blake, Coleridge, Byron and Clare
introduce you to aspects of eighteenth and early nineteenth century culture
help you develop your own distinctive project.

About us

The CRRE recovers and studies the work of labouring-class writers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including John Clare, Robert Bloomfield and Henry Kirke White. Current resources include special library collections of Clare and Bloomfield materials, radical journals and an online database of labouring-class writers. Our projects include:

new editions of Bloomfield's poems and letters
a multi-volume anthology of labouring-class poetry, journals and newsletters devoted to Clare and Bloomfield
regular seminars and one-day conferences.

As a research student in this area, you'll work with two of the world's leading experts - Professor John Goodridge and Professor Tim Fulford. There is a possibility of some limited paid work as a Research Assistant on these projects.

Study William Blake and the subcultures of Blake's London

Professor David Worrall, author of Radical Culture and Theatric Revolution and editor of Blake's prophetic books, will guide your research of Blake and the radical and dissenting subcultures of Blake's London. Possible subjects include:

proletarian drama of the 1790s
radical politics in the early nineteenth century
Blake's religious radicalism.

Current projects include a publicly-funded study of Blake's family links to Moravian religious communities and the literature they produced. The Centre hosts conferences on Blake and his context, providing the opportunity for you to deliver papers on your research in front of an international audience.

Restore to critical attention the work of Robert Southey

Southey, poet, prose writer and early editor of labouring-class writers, is just returning to critical attention. He is a major figure, connected to Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Scott and Shelley. Professor Fulford has published extensively on Southey and is currently preparing a major edition of Southey's letters, By working on the forthcoming edition you'll gain the opportunity to acquire editorial skills.

Investigate maritime and colonial narratives

The Centre investigates colonial and imperial narratives from the period of Britain's imperial expansion, fostering multiple interests in this area:

Dr. Carl Thompson restores to print the shipboard narratives of ordinary sailors and studies exploration accounts from America and the South Seas.
Professor Fulford examines science and voyaging in the empire.
A particular speciality is Native American writing. You'll discover the works in which Indians contested colonialism and formulated their political and racial identities and get the chance to give papers at the conferences we co-organise.

Publish neglected and forgotten texts

NTU English hosts a well-established in-house publisher producing newly-edited and affordable texts in paperback. Past research students have been involved in producing our titles, including poems by Bloomfield and by John Dyer and tracts by Hannah More. Forthcoming titles include an anthology of shipwreck narratives and an edition of Kirke White's verse.

All of us in the Centre have published and taught extensively on canonical writers of the period, revaluing their work in its historical contexts. Among others, we publish on: