Modernism, late nineteenth and early twentieth century novel, womens writing

Career overview

Professor Deborah Longworth holds a BA and MA from the University of Reading and a PhD from the University of London. She joined the University of Birmingham in 1998 as a lecturer in English Literature and has since held various roles, including Head of the Department of English Literature from 2016 to 2021 and Deputy-Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Student Experience before becoming Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education in August 2022. In her current position, she is a member of the University Executive Board, supporting the Vice-Chancellor in setting and implementing university strategy, particularly in teaching and learning excellence and innovation. Professor Longworth''s academic leadership spans the education portfolio, collaborating with colleagues across the university to enhance teaching quality and student academic experience.

Research interests

Professor Longworth''s research focuses on English literature from 1880 to 1940, with a specific emphasis on gender and modernism, particularly the modernist novel. She has published a monograph, *Streetwalking the Metropolis*, which is frequently included in reading lists for courses on modernism, women’s writing, and urban literature. Her studies include works on the American writer Djuna Barnes and a study guide for modernist novel theorists, including James Joyce, Dorothy Richardson, and Virginia Woolf. Recent articles explore metaphysics in Dorothy Richardson’s *Pilgrimage* and the New York modernist magazine *Rogue*. Currently, her research centres on the Sitwell family, for which she received a Harry Ransom Mellon Fellowship and an AHRC research leave grant. Professor Longworth is a founding member of the British Association of Modernist Studies and co-founder and editor of the journal *Modernist Cultures*. She welcomes postgraduate applications in areas such as literary modernism, urban theory, and women''s writing from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.