Kimberley Braxton
- Title
- PhD Student
- Location
- CM1.03
- Phone
- 01782 733731
- k.j.braxton@keele.ac.uk
Biography
My research explores the writing community of the Brontë family. As well as their novels, I analyse their juvenilia, poetry and non-fiction writing which have received considerably less critical attention. Through a consideration of all the Brontë family, including Patrick and Branwell, I am able to document how their community evolved throughout the course of their writing lives, and how this evolution is portrayed through their writing.
Teaching
Department of English, University of Wolverhampton (2016-17)
5EN008: The Realist Novel (Lecturer, seminar leader).
5EN003: Women’s Writing: Reading Gender (Guest Lecturer).
6EN007: Positions: Literature, Society and Geography (Module leader, sole lecturer, seminar leader).
Department of English, University Centre Shrewsbury (2016-17)
EN4401: An Introduction to English Literature (first-year core module; lecturer and seminar leader).
Department of English, Keele University (2015-17)
ENG-10029: Playing Parts: Studying Drama and Poetry (Guest Lecturer).
ENG-10027: Reading Literature (seminar designer and leader).
ENG-10027: Becoming a Critic (first-year core module; seminar designer and leader).
Further information
The Brontë family have been a source of interest throughout my entire academic life. During my PhD I aim to interrogate our preconceived ideas about the Brontës and their writing. Forever portrayed as a collective, an assumed connection and similarity has long been established throughout their work. However, these similarities are simply accepted and I aim to discover whether there areactually enough connections within their work to condone them being sold, portrayed and taught as they are.
In my research up until this point I have argued that the Brontë ‘brand’ has actually had rather negative connotations for each Brontë, especially Anne. Anne is of particular interest to me and I aim to give her work particular focus as she is the least read and studied of the sisters. I will also cover the writing of Patrick Brontë, Maria Brontë and Patrick Branwell Brontë so an assessment of the writing of the entire family can be taken into account.
Writing groups and families are an ongoing interest in my research and I aim to one day explore the connections in the writing of others writing collectives including the Romantics and the Pre-Raphaelites. In the past I have written on depictions of Elizabeth I, the connection between religion and capital punishment, First World War Literature, Gothic Costume and Women Writers, all of which remain ongoing interests. I also have a particular interest in creative writing and have been writing my first novel for a number of years.
Publications
Publications
Book Contributions
Appendices chapter for Charlotte Bronte: Legacies and Afterlives (Manchester University Press, 2017).
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
‘Anne Brontë, William Cowper and the Pursuit of Individual Salvation’ – The Cowper and Newton Journal, 7, 2017.
‘An Exploration of the Relationship between Religion and the Death Penalty as portrayed in Victorian Literature’ – Under Construction @ Keele, 1,1, (2015).
Book Reviews
The Art of Adapting Victorian Literature, 1848-1920: Dramatizing Jane Eyre, David Copperfield, and The Woman in White by Karen E. Laird in Brontë Studies, 41, 4 (2016).
Women Writers and the Hero of Romance by Judith Wilt in Brontë Studies, 41, 1 (2016).
Conference Papers
Aug 2017 BAVS 2017: Victorians Unbound, Connections and Intersections, Bishop Grosseteste University
Aug 2017 The Coarseness of the Brontës: A Reappraisal, Durham University
April 2017 VPFA Collaborations Study Day, Manchester Metropolitan University.
July 2016 Invited Speaker: The North-West Long Nineteenth Century Seminar, Manchester Metropolitan University.
June 2016 Humanities Postgraduate Symposium, Keele University.
May 2016 Charlotte Brontë: A Bicentennial Celebration of her Life and Works, Chawton House.
March 2016 All Things Victorian, University of Portsmouth.
Oct 2015 AHRC North West Consortium Arts and Humanities Postgraduate Conference, Keele University.
Sept 2015 Writing Lives Together: Romantic and Victorian Biography, University of Leicester.
June 2015 Placing the Author: Literary Tourism in the Long Nineteenth Century, Elizabeth Gaskell’s House.
Impact, Outreach, and Social Engagement
Nov 2016 Public Talk at the Brampton Museum.
Oct 2016 Public Talk at the Wellington Literary Festival.
June 2016 Ran Creative Writing Workshop for KS2 Learner Journey Day at Keele University.
July 2015 Ran Creative Writing Workshop for Teaching for Outreach for Keele University.
Feb 2015 Ran Creative Writing Workshop for Teaching for Outreach for Keele University.
Academic Service
2017 REF Audit Administrator
2016-2017 Humanities PhD Student Representative for Keele University.
2016 Chief Editor of Under Construction @ Keele.
2016 Organiser of Humanities Postgraduate Symposium.
2016 Project Assistant for 'Exploring the Gravid Uterus'.
2016 Project Coordinator of 'Responding to 'Crisis': Forced Migration and the Humanities in the Twenty-First Century' funded by the AHRC.
2015-2016 Organiser of Keele Humanities Work in Progress Seminar Series.
2015 Organiser of Humanities Postgraduate Symposium.
School of Humanities
Chancellor's Building
Keele University
Staffordshire
ST5 5AA
Tel: +44 (0) 1782 733109
Head of School
Dr Nick Seager
Room: CBB1.038 (Chancellor's Building, 'B' Extension)
Tel: +44 (0) 1782 733142
Email: n.p.seager@keele.ac.uk
School and college outreach
Tel: +44 (0) 1782 734009
Email: outreach@keele.ac.uk