English Research Centre
Making the study of literature, language and creativity relevant in a changing world
The group takes an innovative approach to research, combined with an engagement with communities beyond academia. We explore hybrid and inter-disciplinary ways of working and in our examination of marginal, experimental and emergent practices. We are concerned with looking at the overlooked and teasing out readings of neglected and/or transgressive authors and cultural practices.
From looking at writing conflict in Northern Ireland to Victorian Sensation fiction, from discontented minds in Early Modern Drama to the representation of serial killers in film and fiction, from African modernism to experimental poetry, from the hidden meanings of place names to discourse analysis – our work is searching, critically-engaged and culturally relevant.
We have three research groups: English Literature, English Language and Linguistics and Creative Practice.
English Literature
English Literature research covers major periods and genres including Renaissance, Shakespeare, 18th-century Literature, and 20th and 21st-century poetry, drama and fiction.
English Language and Linguistics
English Language and Linguistics research is concerned with Pragmatics, Cognitive linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Stylistics, Lexicography, Onomastics and the study of the Scots language.
Creative Practice
Creative Practice research is conducted in poetry, fiction, autobiography, biography, scriptwriting and performance.
We work with a wide range of stakeholders and collaborators including:
- Local schools and colleges including Trafford College, Burnley College, Rivington and Blackrod Sixth Form and Sale Grammar.
- Local health agencies including One Point Bolton, Six Degrees (Salford), Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust.
- Local, regional and international community initiatives such as Salford Loaves and Fishes, SIRENS (Sisterhood for Interdisciplinary Research, Exploration, Networking, and Synthesis), Liverpool Lighthouse and Narrative4.
- Local/regional publishers such as Bridgehouse Publishing, Erbacce Press and The Knives Forks and Spoons Press.
- Local cultural facilities including The International Anthony Burgess Foundation and The Irish World Heritage Centre.
- Local writers’ groups and poetry series including Write the Power and Peter Barlow’s Cigarette.
The research centre is also home to the Journal of British and Irish Innovative Poetry
Our facilities
Some of our facilities where we conduct our impactful research...
English Research blog
Explore our English Research blog to find out more about our recent projects.