I have worked at the University of Northampton since 2007. Prior to that I was a Visiting Fellow in English at the University of Bristol.

Richard’s main interests are in Shakespeare, Renaissance studies, and critical theory. In particular, his research investigates the politics of interpretation and the relationship between literature and society. His monograph, Radical Spenser: Pastoral, Politics and the New Aestheticism (2005), approached these questions through the ethical and political implications of an open-ended ‘pastoral’ logic in Spenser’s writing. Richard is now working on a new book, Shakespeare’s Refusers, looking at figures in the plays who resist coercive social participation. In the longer term, he is researching aspects of happiness and utopia in the Renaissance, and singularity in Shakespeare’s Sonnets. He also has research interests in the work of Theodor Adorno, William Empson, and Dylan Thomas.

Research proposals on any of the above areas would be welcome.

Bochra Benaissa, English and Creative Writing

'Rethinking the Robinsonade: Self and Environment in the Twentieth Century Desert Island Narrative'

Maxine Brimblecombe, English and Creative Writing

'The Dissociated Mind in Children's and YA Fiction'

Catherine Davison, English and Creative Writing

'An Exploration of Communities, Environments and Landscapes in Selected Works of Thomas Hardy, Utilising Post Colonial Theory'

Harry Matthews, English and Creative Writing

'Richard Barnfield: A Study of the Transgressive Norbury Poet in the English Renaissance'