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PhD Topic:

From 1945-1967 major British publishing firms published hundreds of works of fiction featuring queer characters or plotlines, despite existing in a climate that one interviewee in Matt Houlbrook’s Queer London (2005) describes as the ‘intolerant period’. Making use of rich archival sources held at the University of Reading, the British Library, and elsewhere, this project will create a publishing history of post-war queer fiction to trace what Robert Darnton calls ‘the life-cycle of the book’—the actors and networks responsible for the creation, marketing and reception of these works. The project will consider questions such as: What role did queer publishers play in shaping their lists? How were these books positioned within a marketplace dominated by public libraries with conservative stocking policies? Were they marketed to appeal to a particular readership? What was their popular and critical reception? How did literary agents manage queer clients? How did the Wolfenden Report (1957) and the Obscene Publications Act (1959) affect publishers’ decisions? More broadly the project will consider the ways in which post-war publishing exploited the ambiguous position of queerness in British society. Major authors under investigation include Mary Renault, Angus Wilson, Martyn Goff, Francis King, and Maureen Duffy; transatlantic networks will also be considered, including the works of James Purdy and James Baldwin.

Supervisor:

Dr Andrew Nash

Research interests:

English Literature, Gender studies, History, History of the book, Modern History , Palaeography

Regions:

North America, United Kingdom