Dr Melanie Ebdon

Senior Lecturer

Digital, Tech, Innovation & Business

I am a Senior Lecturer in Literary Studies and have been teaching in universities since 2000. It was the study of the Brontë novels at A level that made me want to go on and study for a BA in Literature. Although I went into university as a fan of Victorian literature, I emerged 8 years later as a specialist in the contemporary.

My research has principally focussed on the step away from late twentieth-century postmodernism and towards an ecocentric trend in writing. My publications include work on contemporary British writers such as Jon McGregor and Sarah Hall.

Professional memberships and activities

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Academic qualifications

  • PhD in contemporary literature: Remembering Identity After Postmodernity (2004), Bangor University
  • Postgraduate Certificate of Teaching in Higher Education (2004), Bangor University (converted to a HEA Fellowship)
  • MA in Feminist readings of Gothic and Magical Realist Literature (1999) from Bangor University, winning the ‘John F. Denby Memorial Prize’ for postgraduate work.
  • BA Hons English Literature (1997) from Bangor University

Expertise

  • Ecocriticism
  • Eco-lit, cli-fi, the posthuman/literatures of the Anthropocene
  • Magical Realism
  • Gothic literature
  • Postcolonial literatures

Research interests

  • Ecocriticism
  • Eco-lit, cli-fi and the posthuman/literatures of the Anthropocene
  • Caribbean Magical Realism
  • Eco-gothic literature

Teaching

  • Ecocriticism
  • Postcolonial literatures
  • Magical Realism
  • Gothic fiction
  • Contemporary literature
  • Victorian literature
  • Children’s literature

Publications

Forthcoming – a chapter on Jon McGregor’s Reservoir 13 in a collection of essays on Landscape in Literature (Palgrave, 2023).

Ebdon, Melanie (2022) ‘Real Nature’ in Beaumont, A. & D’hoker, E. Sarah Hall: Critical Essays. Gylphi Contemporary Writers. Gylphi.

Burnham, D and M. Ebdon (2009) ‘Philosophy, Literature and Interpretation’ in J. Mullarkey and B. Lord The Bloomsbury Companion to Continental Philosophy. Bloomsbury: London

in the UK for Quality Education

Sustainable Development Goal 4, Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2024

for Career Prospects

Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023

for Facilities

Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023

for Social Inclusion

The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023

of Research Impact is ‘Outstanding’ or ‘Very Considerable’

Research Excellence Framework 2021

of Research is “Internationally Excellent” or “World Leading”

Research Excellence Framework 2021

Four Star Rating

QS Star Ratings 2021