Dr Sam Hirst

I studied Russian and Spanish at undergrad, specialising in Russian Romantic literature. After living in Spain, Russia and South Africa for some years, I returned to the UK to undertake a Masters Course in 'The Gothic Imagination' at Stirling University. I then went on to do a PhD in 'The Theology of the Early British Gothic, 174-1833' at Manchester Metropolitan University. I have also completed teaching qualifications - the PGCLTHE at ManMet and the PGDAP at Liverpool University.

After working for a number of years as an Associate Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan, I got a position as Teaching Associate in EAP at Leeds University before beginning a full time position as the Alan Price Memorial Post-Doctoral Teaching Fellow at Liverpool University. I went on to work as a Lecturer in English Literature at Liverpool and a lecturer in 19th century literature at Oxford Brookes, before taking up a position as Research Associate at Nottingham, collaborating with Newstead Abbey on celebrations and displays marking the bicentenary of Byron's death. I received an AHRC IAA grant as a post-doctoral knowledge exchange fellow to continue and widen my work on literary tourism, Byron, and Newstead. I am currently employed part-time on a research project at Newstead Abbey, transcribing, digitizing and creating a display based around musician William Linley's diary 'Summer Rambles of 1825'.

I have published numerous articles on 18th and 20th century Gothic and Gothic romance. In 2023, I published my first monograph Theology in the Early British and Irish Gothic, 1764-1834 with Anthem Press. It was shortlisted for the Alan Lloyd Smith prize. I have also published short fiction in a range of queer Gothic magazines and anthologies.

I run Romancing the Gothic - a free educational online programme which offers free lectures on subjects more (or less) related to horror and the Gothic. I also run yearly conferences. 2025 marks the 5th annual conference which will celebrate the 100th anniversary of M R James' A Warning to the Curious and other stories. You can find more information at www.romancingthegothic.com

I frequently collaborate with external partners. These have included:

• Nottingham City Libraries, where I collaborated on a holographic Byron display and a series of lectures
• The Brontë Parsonage, where I ran a 'Gothic Brontës' course and will run a 'Brontës and Byron' course this year
• Science VR, where I collaborated on the creation of a digital world based on the Villa Diodati and the work of Romantic Poets
• The Regency Academe, where I design and run courses on 'Living Religion in the Georgian and Regency Periods', 'Literary Tourism' and 'Gothic Publishing'
• Newstead Abbey

I have also written for non-academic outlets including DK Publishing, History Today, Tor.com and The Conversation.