Directory of Research and Expertise

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Research Summary and Profile

Research interests:

Communities, Classes, Races, Cultural memory, Culture, Digital resources, English Literature, History, Medieval History, Metropolitan history, Modern History

Research keywords:

medieval, history, literature, heritage, digital, place, landscape, story, coproduction, creative, public

Summary of research interests and expertise:

Place and identity; medieval history, literature and culture; landscape and environment; medievalism and uses of the past; heritage; place-making and management / interpretation of historic places; co-production, collaborative methods and creative practice; digital approaches

Publication Details

Related publications/articles:

Date	Details
08-May-2026	Can popular history be radical? Historical research and writing for the public with a manifesto for radical popular history This article, a transcript of the 2026 Historical Research Lecture, re-visits the question of what makes history radical, asking what kind of radical history we need in our public life and contemporary context today. In particular, it explores ways in which popular history – trade publishing for a wide public audience – has the capacity to be radical, drawing on experiences and examples from the author's new book A History of England in 25 Poems (Penguin Allen Lane, September 2025). The discussion moves towards a manifesto for how research-led, scholarship-driven popular history can and does make necessary, vital public interventions – from opening inclusive conversations and confronting the rise of A.I., to modelling radical empathy and imagination.
04-Sep-2025	A History of England in 25 Poems Monographs This is the history of England told in a new way: glimpsed through twenty-five remarkable poems written down between the eighth century and today, which connect us directly with the nation’s past, and the experiences, emotions and imaginations of those who lived it. These poems open windows onto wildly different worlds – from the public to the intimate, from the witty to the savage, from the playful to the wistful. They take us onto battlefields, inside royal courts, down coal mines and below stairs in great houses. Their creators, witnesses to events from the Great Fire of London to the Miners’ Strike, range from the famous to the forgotten, yet each invites us into an immersive encounter with their own time. A History of England in 25 Poems is a portal to the past; a constant companion, filled with vivid voices and surprising stories alongside familiar landmarks, and language that speaks in new ways on each reading. Catherine Clarke’s knowledge and passion take us inside the words and the moments they capture, with thoughtful insights, humour and new perspectives on how the nation has dreamed itself into existence – and who gets to tell England’s story. A Times History Book of the Year, 2025; a History Extra Book of the Year 2025; a Financial Times Poetry Book of the Year 2025. A BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week (2025)
01-May-2020	The St Thomas Way and the Medieval March of Wales: Exploring Place, Heritage, Pilgrimage Edited Book The St. Thomas Way is a new heritage route from Swansea to Hereford that invites visitors to step into the rich and complex history of the medieval March of Wales. This volume brings together studies and reflections by those involved in the project, explores the St. Thomas Way as a visitor experience, and offers new insights into commemoration, "sense of place," and pilgrimage today. This book is for readers interested in medieval cults of the saints and pilgrimage traditions, especially those of St. Thomas of Hereford; medieval and modern day pilgrimage; those with a professional interest in heritage, tourism, and regional development; and scholars interested in the process of developing research into public-facing projects and in the application of digital methods and tools in heritage contexts.
15-Mar-2019	Medieval Cityscapes Today Monographs This book explores medieval cityscapes within the modern urban environment, using place as a catalyst to forge connections between past and present, and investigating timely questions concerning theoretical approaches to medieval urban heritage, as well as the presentation and interpretation of that heritage for public audiences. Written by a specialist in literary and cultural history with substantial experience of multi-disciplinary research into medieval towns, Medieval Cityscapes Today teases out stories and strata of meaning from the urban landscape, bringing techniques of close reading to the material fabric of the city, as well as textual artefacts associated with it. Deriving from the author’s own experience in urban regeneration and heritage interpretation projects, case studies — such as the development of a public art installation at a medieval ruin site and the development of a pavement marker trail — provide ways into exploring broader questions about relationships between the medieval and modern city.

Additional Publications

Government/policy work:

Date	Details
2024	Promoting diversity and place attachment through place-based histories: hybrid material-digital infrastructures and the public realm Social and cultural infrastructure for people and policy: discussion papers | The British Academy (2024) Written with Jon Winder

Research Projects & Supervisions

Research projects:

Details
Invisible Worlds: Place-Making, Augmented Reality, and Alderley Edge Institute of Historical Research Project period: 01-May-2020 - 30-Jun-2023 Research interests: History
City Witness: Place and Perspective in Medieval Swansea Principal Investigator (2013-14) Funded by the AHRC
Creative Repurposing and Levelling Up: History, Heritage and Urban Renewal IHR project co-led with Matthew Bristow, and researchers Rachel Delman, Mark Liebenrood and Jon Winder, 2022
Discover Medieval Chester Principal Investigator (2012-13) Funded by the AHRC
Invisible Worlds: Place-making, Augmented Reality and Alderley Edge Co-Investigator (2020-22) Funded by the AHRC
Mapping Medieval Chester: Place and Perspective in an English Borderland City, c. 1200-1500 Principal Investigator (2008-09) Funded by the AHRC
The St Thomas Way: A New Heritage Route from Swansea to Hereford Principal Investigator (2017-18) Funded by the AHRC
Towns and the Cultural Economies of Recovery: A New Multi-disciplinary Mapping AHRC-funded research scoping study, 2021 (Co-Investigator).
Victoria County History of England Director (2019 -)

Available for doctoral supervision: Yes

Relevant Events

Related events:

Date	Details
04-Nov-2025	Historical Research Lecture 2025 Can popular history be radical? Historical research and writing for the public In this lecture, Catherine Clarke will re-visit the question of what makes history radical, asking what kind of radical history we need in our public life and contemporary context today. In particular, she’ll explore ways in which popular history – trade publishing for a wide public audience – has the capacity to be radical, drawing on experiences and examples from her own new book A History of England in 25 Poems (Penguin Allen Lane, September 2025). Catherine’s lecture will move towards a manifesto for how research-led, scholarship-driven popular history can and does make necessary, vital public interventions – from opening inclusive conversations and confronting the rise of AI, to modelling radical empathy and imagination.
26-Oct-2025	Slow Sunday with Cerys Matthews, BBC Radio 6 Music Slow Sunday: Margaretha Van Dam & Catherine Clarke – Curds, Culture & Verse Cerys dials down the tempo for Slow Sunday with a soothing mix and welcomes cheesemaker Margaretha Van Dam and historian-poet Catherine Clarke for music and reflection.
22-Sep-2025	BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week: A History of England in 25 Poems Book of the Week. Catherine Clarke reads her new and original history of England exploring the ways in which poetry has shaped English identity.
22-Sep-2025	Start the Week, BBC Radio 4 The historian Catherine Clarke is retelling the story of the past in a new way in ‘A History of England in 25 Poems’. From the 8th century to today these verses illuminate the experiences, emotions and imaginations of those who lived through it.
09-Sep-2025	Doing History with Poetry: The Creighton Lecture 2025 What happens if we do history through poetry? What new stories come into focus? Whose voices do we hear? And how can poetry transform our perspective on the big histories of nation, Englishness, and England’s place in the world? This event brings together historian Catherine Clarke (A History of England in 25 Poems) and acclaimed poet Hannah Lowe (The Kids, winner of the Costa Poetry Award and the Costa Book Award, 2021) in conversation chaired by Institute of Historical Research Director Claire Langhamer, to reflect on critical and creative approaches to doing history with poetry.
08-Mar-2024	AI and Women on the Edge of the Archive (Paper at 23:15.) An invited talk at an event for International Women's Day 2024, hosted by the Society of Antiquaries, from the 'Beyond Notability' project.
01-Jun-2023	Absences, Ghosts, Ethics: Using AI to Re-Visit Gaps in the Historical Archive (Paper at 2:34). A conference on 'ChatGPT and Other Creative Rivals' hosted by the Institute of Philosophy, June 2023.
16-Mar-2022	Imagining Microplaces: Medieval to the Present York Medieval Public Lecture
26-May-2021	Making places: heritage, renewal and site-specific medievalism University of Southampton Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Culture, Reuter Lecture 2021
26-Apr-2021	Reading trauma in early medieval English texts University of Manchester Toller Memorial Lecture, 2021
16-Mar-2021	Sensing Place Heritage, Renewal and New Public Realms The Inaugural Lancaster University Castle Lecture
16-Sep-2020	What is Local History? Keynote Lecture, British Association for Local History AGM, 2020

Knowledge transfer activities:

Details
'A History of England in 25 Poems: Hampshire Stories' Wednesday 18 March 2026, online talk
Meeting faith in Poetry Lent Lecture, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle (recording available online) 10 March, 2026
Maldon, Vikings, Saxons Essex Record Office, 6 January 2026
English History Through Poetry Westminster Abbey Lunchtime Talk, 15 April 2026
A History of England in 25 Poems Talk at Arundells, Salisbury, 12 May 2026
A History of England in 25 Poems Oxford Literary Festival, 22 March, 2026
A History of England in 25 Poems Stratford Literary Festival, 9 May, 2026
England's Story In conversation with historian Alice Loxton, chaired by Clare Clark, at the Cheltenham Literature Festival 2025 (17 October, 2025)
All history is local: Wilton, 1066, and the VCH past, present and future Lecture for the Victoria County History of Wiltshire at Wiltshire Museum (virtually).
Pilgrims and Phantoms: The St Thomas Way and the Medieval March of Wales F.C. Morgan Lecture, Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club, Hereford
Future History Workshop Public workshop for the Being Human Festival, 2021
BBC Radio Four Lost Worlds: pilot episode Advisor on research and expert consultants.
Future Maps workshop Public workshop for the Being Human Festival, 2021

Consultancy & Media

Available for consultancy:

Yes

Media experience:

Yes

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