Dr. Nicola Wilson

Candidate statement

Dr Nicola Wilson, Associate Professor, Book and Publishing Studies, University of Reading. My research focusses on literature in the modern period. I have broad interests in literary history, publishing, and print culture and my work is underscored by engagement with feminism and class. I am currently writing about The Book Society (the first book-of-the-month club in Britain); co-I of the Modernist Archives Publishing Project – a multi-partner, feminist Digital Humanities project focussed on publishers’ archives; and lead co-editor of The Edinburgh Companion to Women in Publishing, 1900-2000 (forthcoming). I’m also passionate about recovering working-class writing and am editor of the Ethel Carnie Holdsworth series. I’ve been an enthusiastic member of SHARP since Postdoc days and have loved attending conferences when I could. I’m part of a working group hoping to bring the conference to the UK in the next few years, and an active contributor to SHARP-L: something I really value as an accessible and democratic resource. I co-founded the Centre for Book Cultures and Publishing at the University of Reading to bring an interdisciplinary focus to our work on book cultures (between English, Typography/Graphic Design, Modern Languages, Henley Business School). I’d plan to keep this interdisciplinary mix at the forefront of SHARP. I’m also passionate about working with libraries, special collections, publishers, and arts organisations and have led collaborative funding bids on this front. I value collaborations, diverse/inclusive research, and have experience of working across different sectors and with non-HEI partners: these would be my priorities for SHARP.