School of English

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Lynda Pratt

Professor of Modern Literature (Romanticism) and Faculty Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange, Faculty of Arts

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Biography

BA (Manchester), DPhil (Oxon)

I am Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange (Faculty of Arts) and Professor of Modern Literature (with a particular focus on the Romantic period). I have previously undertaken a number of senior administrative roles in the School of English, including: Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange and REF UoA Coordinator; Head of Literature 1500 to the Present; Founding Director of the Centre for Regional Literature and Culture; and Director of Postgraduate Research.

I am a Fellow of the English Association (elected 2012) and was, until December 2020, a member of the AHRC Strategic College. I am an editorial board member of the journals Romanticism, Essays in Romanticism and the Bulletin of the John Rylands Library. I sit on the editorial advisory boards for scholarly editions of the poetry of Walter Scott and the letters of Elizabeth Montagu and the letters of Percy Bysshe Shelley.

My research has been funded by grants from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the British Academy, the Leverhulme Trust and the Modern Humanities Research Association. I have also received visiting awards from a number of North American institutions, including the Beinecke Library, Yale; the Huntington Library; Princeton University Library; and the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, Texas.

Expertise Summary

My expertise is in literature and culture from the eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries. I have particular interests in the recovery of literary reputations; scholarly editing; manuscript and print culture; digital humanities; counterfactual literary history; and poetry and place.

Teaching Summary

My teaching connects to my research expertise in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. I teach across all years of the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum, from first year to MA. I… read more

Research Summary

My research is concentrated on the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, especially the Romantic period. I have particular interests in the recovery of literary reputations; scholarly… read more

Selected Publications

I particularly welcome applications on all aspects of Romantic period literature and culture, and on writers and writing of the Long Eighteenth and the Nineteenth centuries.

Please drop me an e-mail if you would like to discuss a proposed topic.

I am a highly-experienced PhD supervisor and am currently supervising PhD students working on:

  • Romanticism and philanthropy
  • regional fiction written by women in the Romantic period
  • Thomas Campbell
  • the Minerva Press
  • Lucy Hutchinson
  • ideas of space in early nineteenth century women's writing
  • research that crosses the creative-critical boundaries.

Recent students have successfully completed PhDs on:

  • Romantic period women's writing
  • the influence of Romantic writers on later poets, including Edward Thomas
  • contemporary poetry and place
  • the reception of Jane Austen in China
  • blasphemy in the writings of Percy Shelley
  • a scholarly edition of the letters of Samuel Rogers
  • literature and politics in the 1790s
  • Byron and history

My teaching connects to my research expertise in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. I teach across all years of the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum, from first year to MA. I teach on a year 2 module on the period 1700-1830 and convene a more specialist year 3 module.

Undergraduate Modules taught

Year 1: 'Studying Modern Literature'

Year 2: 'From Talking Horses to Romantic Revolutionaries: Literature 1700-1830'

Year 3: 'Self and the World'

Postgraduate Modules taught

​I teach on the core modules for the MA in English Literature, including 'Textualities' and supervise MA dissertations.

Current Research

My research is concentrated on the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, especially the Romantic period. I have particular interests in the recovery of literary reputations; scholarly editing; manuscript and print culture; digital humanities; counterfactual literary history; and poetry and place.

I lead an international team working on a multi-part, digital, fully open access edition of the collected correspondence of Robert Southey (1774-1843). One of the largest scale digital Romanticism projects currently in progress, it has already published the first scholarly edition of the letters written by Southey from 1791-1821, and in 2021 will add to this the first scholarly edition of his letters written between 1822-27. Future parts of the edition will include the letters written by Southey from 1828-39 and also the letters sent to him. You can find out more about the edition and read the letters already published by following the link below:

https://romantic-circles.org/editions/southey_letters

My interests also encompass British Romanticism and the culture of non-publication. A chapter related to this appeared in the Oxford Handbook of British Romanticism, ed. David Duff (2018).

I am actively involved in The Centre for Regional Literature and Culture (www.nottingham.ac.uk/crlc). This runs regular seminars and conferences and coordinates a number of research and outreach initiatives on space and place; cultural geography; writing and the local; regional and national literary cultures; and text-editing.

I am an experienced PhD supervisor and particularly welcome applications from students working on the Eighteenth Century, Romantic period and later Nineteenth Century. Please see below for more information.

Past Research

I have published extensively on the 'Lake' poet Robert Southey and his circle.

I was general editor of Robert Southey: Poetical Works 1793-1810 (2004), awarded an 'Honorable Mention' in the MLA prize for a Distinguished Scholarly Edition; and co-general editor of Robert Southey: Later Poetical Works (2012).

My edited collections Southey and the Contexts of English Romanticism and Wales and the Romantic Imagination (co-edited with Damian Walford Davies) appeared in 2006 and 2007 respectively. I have guest-edited Southey special issues of the journals Romanticism and Romanticism on the Net.

  • PRATT, LYNDA, 2020. The “Entire Man of Letters”? Robert Southey, Correspondence and Romantic Incompletion. In: CALLAGHAN, MADELEINE AND HOWE, ANTHONY, ed., Romanticism and the Letter 1st. Palgrave Macmillan. 99-115
  • PRATT, LYNDA, 2019. Robert Southey and His Age: Ageing, Old Age and the Days of Old Romanticism. 24(1), 271-280
  • PRATT, LYNDA, 2018. Non-Publication. In: DUFF, DAVID, ed., The Oxford Handbook of British Romanticism 1st. Oxford University Press. 495-509
  • PRATT, L. and PACKER, I., 2018. Robert Southey and the Peninsular War. In: SAGLIA, D. and HAYWOOD, I., eds., Spain in British Romanticism Palgrave Macmillan. 36-54
  • PACKER, IAN and PRATT, L, eds., 2017. Scholarly digital edition. The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part Six: 1819-21 Romantic Circles.
  • FULFORD, T., PACKER, I. and PRATT, L., eds., 2016. Scholarly Digital Edition. The Collected Letters of Robert Southey: Part 5. 1816-1818 Romantic Circles.
  • PACKER, I., PRATT, L. and , eds., 2013. Digital scholarly edition of the letters of Robert Southey, with full critical apparatus, including introduction, editorial methodology, footnotes, chronology, biographies and indices of people and places. The collected letters of Robert Southey: Part four: 1810-1815 University of Maryland.
  • LYNDA PRATT, DANIEL E. WHITE, IAN PACKER, TIM FULFORD and CAROL BOLTON, eds., 2012. Print scholarly edition. Robert Southey: Later Poetical Works, 1811-38: Laureate Poems Pickering and Chatto.
  • LYNDA PRATT and IAN PACKER, eds., 2012. Print scholarly edition. Robert Southey: Later Poetical Works, 1811-38: Shorter Poems Pickering and Chatto.
  • LYNDA PRATT, 2012. Robert Southey’s Poetry: Inscribing a Romantic Reputation. In: FREDERICK BURWICK, NANCY MOORE and DIANE LONG HOEVELER, eds., The Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Romantic Literature 3. 1274-80
  • PACKER, I. and PRATT, L., eds., 2011. Digital scholarly edition of the letters of Robert Southey, with full critical apparatus, including introduction, editorial methodology, footnotes, chronology, biographies and indices of people and places. The collected letters of Robert Southey: Part two 1798-1803 Romantic Circles.
  • PRATT, L., 2011. What Robert Southey did not write next Romanticism. 17.1, 1-9
  • 2011. Southey Special Issue Romanticism. 17.1, 1-93
  • LYNDA PRATT, 2011. ‘Is he “well authenticated”? Southey and Anna Seward’. In: ASHLEY CHANTLER, MICHAEL DAVIES and PHILIP SHAW, eds., Literature and Authenticity, 1780-1900 1st. Ashgate. 25-37
  • LYNDA PRATT, 2010. Bristowa's Citizens? Coleridge, Southey and Bristol Coleridge Bulletin. 28(Summer), 33-42
  • LYNDA PRATT, 2010. His Days Among the Dead are No Longer Passed: Editing Robert Southey Literature Compass. 7(2), 72-81
  • PRATT, L., 2010. Southey's West Country. In: ROE, N., ed., English romantic writers and the West Country Palgrave Macmillan. 201-217
  • LYNDA PRATT, ed., 2009. Digital scholarly edition. The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part 1: 1791-1797
  • LYNDA PRATT and TIM FULFORD, eds., 2009. The Letters of Robert Bloomfield and His Circle Romantic Circles.
  • LYNDA PRATT, 2008. 'Let Not Bristol Be Ashamed': Coleridge's Afterlife in the Early Recollections of Joseph Cottle. In: JAMES VIGUS AND JANE WRIGHT, ed., Coleridge's Afterlives Palgrave. 20-35
  • LYNDA PRATT, 2008. Tea and national history Studies in Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century. 265-279
  • LYNDA PRATT AND TIM FULFORD, 2008. Editing Robert Southey for the twenty-first century European Romantic Review. 19(2), 187-197
  • LYNDA PRATT and DAMIAN WALFORD DAVIES, eds., 2007. Wales and the Romantic Imagination 1st ed. Cardiff : University of Wales Press.
  • PRATT, L.D., 2007. Southey in Wales: inscriptions, monuments and Romantic posterity. In: WALFORD DAVIES, D. and PRATT, L., eds., Wales and the Romantic Imagination Cardiff : University of Wales Press. 86-103
  • PRATT, L.D., 2007. 'Hung, drawn and Quarterlyed? Robert Southey, poetry, poets and "The Quarterly Review"'. In: JONATHAN CUTMORE, ed., Conservatism and 'The Quarterly Review' 1st. London : Pickering and Chatto. 185-202
  • PRATT, L.D. AND WALFORD DAVIES, D., 2007. Introduction: Devolving Romanticism. In: PRATT, L.D. AND WALFORD DAVIES, D., ed., Wales and the Romantic Imagination University of Wales Press.
  • PRATT, L.D., ed., 2006. Robert Southey and the contexts of English romanticism Aldershot: Ashgate.
  • PRATT, L.D., 2006. '"Where success ... is certain": Southey the literary Eastindiaman. In: FRANKLIN, M.J., ed., Romantic Representations of British India London : Routledge. 132-153
  • PRATT, L.D., 2006. Family misfortunes: the posthumous editing of Robert Southey. In: PRATT, L.D., ed., Robert Southey and the Contexts of English Romanticism Aldershot : Ashgate. 219-238
  • PRATT, L.D., 2006. Introduction: Robert Southey and the Contexts of English Romanticism. In: PRATT, L.D., ed., Robert Southey and the Contexts of English Romanticism Aldershot : Ashgate. xvii-xxix
  • PRATT, L.D., 2005. Epic. In: , ed., Romanticism: an Oxford Guide Oxford : Oxford University Press. 332-49
  • PRATT, L.D., ed., 2004. Scholarly edition of Robert Southey. Robert Southey: poetical works, 1793-1810: Vol. 1: Joan of Arc Pickering masters London: Pickering and Chatto.
  • PRATT, L.D., ed., 2004. Scholarly edition of Robert Southey. Robert Southey: Poetical Works, 1793-1810: Vol. 5: Selected Shorter Poems, 1793-1810 Pickering Masters London: Pickering and Chatto.
  • PRATT, L.D., 2004. Introduction 'Robert Southey, writing and Romanticism' Romanticism on the Net.
  • PRATT, L.D., ed., 2004. Robert Southey: Poetical Works, 1793-1810: Vol. 2: Madoc London : Pickering and Chatto.
  • PRATT, L.D., 2003. The Media of Friends or Foes? Unpublished Letters from Joseph Cottle to Robert Southey, 1834-1837 Modern Language Review. VOL 98(PART 3), 545-562
  • PRATT, L.D., 2003. The marriage poems of Robert Southey and Caroline Bowles' Notes and Queries. n.s. 50, 282-87
  • PRATT, L.D., 2002. Coleridge's marriage in 1802: an unpublished letter by Robert Southey Notes and Queries. n.s. 49, 8-15
  • PRATT, L.D., 2001. Patriot poetics and the Romantic national epic. In: KITSON, P.J., ed., Placing and Displacing Romanticism Aldershot : Ashgate. 93-111
  • PRATT, L.D., 2000. Naval Contemplation: Poetry, patriotism and the Navy 1797-99 Journal for Maritime Research. December.,
  • PRATT, L.D., 2000. "Perilous Acquaintance". Coleridge, Southey and Charles Lloyd in the 1790s: Five New Letters' Romanticism. 6(1), 98-115
  • PRATT, L.D., 2000. Anglo-Saxon Attitudes: Alfred the Great and the Romantic National Epic. In: SCRAGG, D and WEINBURG, C., eds., Literary Appropriations of the Anglo-Saxons from the Thirteenth to the Twentieth Century Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. 138-56
  • PRATT, L.D. and DENISON, D., 2000. The Language of Southey and His Circle. In: Culture, Style and Language in Eighteenth-Century England 401-10
  • PRATT, L.D., 1999. The Pantisocratic Origins of Southey's Madoc: An Unpublished Letter Notes and Queries. 46, 34-39
  • PRATT, L.D., 1996. Revising the Romantic National Epic: Coleridge, Southey and Madoc Romanticism. 2(2), 149-63
  • PRATT, L.D., 1994. A Coleridge borrowing from Southey Notes and Queries. 41, 336-8
  • PRATT, L.D., 1994. The Southey circle and Scandinavian mythology and literature. In: Celtic and Germanic themes in European art and literature 95-107
  • PRATT, L.D., 1994. Coleridge, Wordsworth and Joan of Arc Notes and Queries. 41, 335-6

School of English

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telephone: +44 (0) 115 951 5900
email: english-enquiries@nottingham.ac.uk