English and Creative Writing

Photo of Professor Nick Groom

Professor Nick Groom

MA (Oxon), DPhil (Oxon)

Honorary Professor

N.Groom@exeter.ac.uk

Research

My work investigates questions of authenticity and the emergence of national and regional identities, particularly in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This interest began in my first book, a study of the formation of the English ballad tradition (The Making of Percy's Reliques, Clarendon Press, 1999) and an edition of Thomas Percy's collection of ballads (Routledge/Thoemmes Press, 1996). At the same time I published a collection of essays on the poet Thomas Chatterton (Thomas Chatterton and Romantic Culture, Macmillan, 1999), and used Chatterton as the central figure in a study of literary forgery and poetic inspiration, The Forger's Shadow (Picador, 2002; paperbacked 2003) - a book that also covered James Macpherson, William Henry Ireland, and Thomas Griffiths Wainewright. The Times Literary Supplement described The Forger's Shadow as ‘Refreshingly humanist and carefully researched ... the most entertaining, erudite and authoritative book on literary forgery to date.'

Following these predominantly literary critical studies, my work has become more emphatically interdisciplinary. Most recently, a cultural history of The Union Jack (Atlantic, 2006; paperbacked 2007), has examined expressions of British identities. The Union Jack was described by the Times Higher Education Supplement as ‘Vivid, fascinating and carefully researched history... robust, positive and wholly persuasive', and by the Guardian as ‘essential reading'. This work on national identity and culture has inspired further research into the relationship of culture variously with the past, with noise, and with the landscape. My study on the history of representations of the English environment was published in November 2013 as The Seasons: An Elegy for the Passing of the Year (Atlantic). It was the Book of the Week in the Guardian and a Book of the Year in the Observer, while in the Daily Mail Bel Mooney wrote that 'It's no exaggeration to say that this is a volume I have been waitng for all my life.... I love Nick Groom's passionate plea for us to be aware of traditional connections between human lives, the seasons and the natural world'. I am working on a follow-up monograph on issues of cultural environmentalism to be published in 2014/15, as well as a study of the international culture of British saints' days for Oxford University Press. In the meantime my acclaimed book The Gothic: A Very Short Introduction was published by OUP in 2012 as a part of a long-term project rethinking the Gothic past in political and historicist terms, and my anniversary edition of Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto will be published later this year - also by OUP

More generally, I have also written extensively on literature and culture for both academic and popular audiences, including a book on the status of Shakespeare (Introducing Shakespeare, Icon, 2001), an anthology of crime in the eighteenth century (The Bloody Register, Routledge, 1999), and several essays on the singer-songwriter Nick Cave. I have frequently appeared on radio and television and am a regular reviewer for the Independent. I teach literature and culture from Shakespeare to the present day, and run option courses on The Gothic, and on the work of J. R. R. Tolkien.

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Publications

Copyright Notice: Any articles made available for download are for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the copyright holder.

| 2022 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1996 | 1995 |

2022

2020

2019

  • . (2019) Goth, DOI:10.4135/9781483317731.n319. [PDF]

2018

  • Groom N. (2018) The Vampire A New History, Yale University Press.
  • Hauser ESV. (2018) Introduction, Reading Poetry, Writing Genre: English Poetry and Literary Criticism in Dialogue with Classical Scholarship, Bloomsbury, 1-12.
  • Hinchliffe S, Jackson M, Wyatt K, Barlow A, Barreto M, Clare L, Deplege M, Durie R, Fleming L, Groom N. (2018) Healthy publics: Enabling cultures and environments for health, Palgrave Communications, volume 4, pages n/a-n/a, article no. 57 (2018), DOI:10.1057/s41599-018-0113-9.
  • Shelley M. (2018) Frankenstein, Oxford University Press.
  • Groom NM. (2018) Catachthonic Romanticism: Buried History, Deep Ruins, Romanticism.
  • Groom NM. (2018) Malone Unmasking Forgery, Bodleian Library Record.
  • Groom NM. (2018) Romanticism before 1789, The Oxford Handbook of British Romanticism, Oxford University Press.
  • Groom NM. (2018) The Advent of the Vampire, The Cambridge Companion to Dracula, Cambridge University Press.

2017

  • Groom N. (2017) Silent witness, TLS - The Times Literary Supplement, volume 2017-January, no. 5938.
  • Groom N. (2017) Draining the irish sea: The colonial politics of water, Coastal Works: Cultures of the Atlantic Edge, 21-39, DOI:10.1093/oso/9780198795155.003.0002.
  • Radcliffe A. (2017) The Italian, Oxford University Press.
  • Groom NM, Allen N, Smith J. (2017) Introduction, Coastal Works Culture of the Atlantic Edge, Oxford University Press, USA, 1-18.
  • Groom NM. (2017) “Let’s discuss over country supper soon”: Rural Realities and Rustic Representations, Creating the Countryside The Rural Idyll 1600-2017, Paul Holberton Publishing, 49-60.
  • Groom NM. (2017) Plastic Daffodils: The Pastoral, the Picturesque, and Cultural Environmentalism, Climate Change and the Humanities, Palgrave.
  • Groom NM. (2017) The Celtic Century, Scottish Gothic, Edinburgh University Press.
  • Groom N. (2017) Draining the Irish Sea: The Colonial Politics of Water, Coastal Works: Literature at the Atlantic Edge, Oxford University Press, 20-39.

2016

2015

  • Groom N. (2015) Hefted and blinded, TLS - The Times Literary Supplement, no. 5850.

2014

  • Walpole H. (2014) The Castle of Otranto, Oxford University Press.

2013

  • Groom NM. (2013) ‘“Let’s discuss over country supper soon”: Rebekah Brooks and David Cameron – Rural Realities and Rustic Representations’, www.theclearingonline.org, no. 2.
  • Groom N. (2013) The Seasons: An Elegy for the Passing of the Year, Atlantic. [PDF]

2012

  • Groom NM. (2012) “That road it twists / That road is crossed”: Echoes of Traditional Ballads in the Work of Cave, Read Write [Hand]: A Multi-Disciplinary Nick Cave Reader, Silkworms Ink, 47-50. [PDF]
  • Groom NM. (2012) Romanticism, Forgery and the Credit Crisis: Afterword, Romantic Circles Praxis Series. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2012) The Gothic, Oxford University Press. [PDF]

2011

2010

  • Groom N. (2010) Unoriginal Genius: Plagiarism and the Construction of 'Romantic' Authorship, Copyright and Piracy: An Interdisciplinary Critique, Cambridge University Press, 271-299. [PDF]
  • Groom N, Piero. (2010) Introducing Shakespeare: A Graphic Guide, Icon. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2010) “Al under the Wyllowe Tree”: Chatterton and the Ecology of the West Country, English Romantic Writers and the West Country, Palgrave, 37-61.

2009

2008

  • Groom N. (2008) Review, Angelaki, volume 1, no. 2, pages 159-162, DOI:10.1080/09697259608571889. [PDF]
  • Groom N, Halliwell J, Rajan T. (2008) European Romantic Review: Introduction, European Romantic Review, volume 19, no. 2, pages 81-82, DOI:10.1080/10509580802030235.
  • Groom N, Halliwell J, Rajan T. (2008) ‘Emancipation, Liberation, Freedom’, European Romanticism Review, volume 19, no. 2, pages 81-82. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2008) ‘Romantic Poetry and Antiquity.’, The Cambridge Companion to British Romantic Poetry, Cambridge University Press, 35-52. [PDF]

2007

  • Groom N. (2007) ‘In the Field’, John Clare Society Journal, volume 26, pages 76-79.
  • Groom N. (2007) The Union Jack: The Story of the British Flag, Atlantic. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2007) ‘Union Jacks and Union Jills.’, Flag, Nation and Symbolism in Europe and America, Routledge, 68-87. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2007) ‘Romanticism and Forgery’, Literature Compass Online. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2007) ‘“The purest english” [sic]: Ballads and the English Literary Dialect’, The Eighteenth-Century: Theory and Interpretation, volume 47.2-3, pages 179-202. [PDF]

2006

  • Groom N. (2006) ‘Samuel Johnson and Truth: Response to Curley’, Age of Johnson, pages 197-201. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2006) The Union Jack: The Story of the British Flag, Atlantic. [PDF]

2005

  • Groom N. (2005) ‘The Death of Chatterton.’, From Gothic to Romantic: Thomas Chatterton’s Bristol, Redcliffe, 116-125. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2005) ‘Love and Madness: Southey Editing Chatterton.’, Robert Southey and the Contexts of English Romanticism, Ashgate, 19-35. [PDF]

2004

  • Groom N. (2004) ‘“I am Nothing”: A Typology of the Forger from Chatterton to Wilde’, The Victorians and the Eighteenth Century: Reassessing the Tradition, Ashgate, 2003-222. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2004) ‘William Henry Ireland: From Forgery to Fish ’n’ Chips’, Cultures of Taste/Theories of Appetite: Eating Romanticism, Palgrave Macmillan, 21-40. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2004) Thomas Chatterton, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press. [PDF]

2003

  • Groom N. (2003) Faking Literature, Notes and Queries, volume 50, no. 2, pages 248-249, DOI:10.1093/nq/500248. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2003) How was ‘Rowley’ Pronounced?, Notes and Queries, volume 50, no. 3, pages 277-278, DOI:10.1093/nq/500277. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2003) Review: The House of Forgery in Eighteenth-Century Britain, The Review of English Studies, volume 54, no. 214, pages 258-260, DOI:10.1093/res/54.214.258. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2003) The Forger’s Shadow: How Forgery Changed the Course of Literature, Picador. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2003) Thomas Chatterton: Selected Poetry, Cyder. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2003) ‘The Case Against Chatterton’s “Lines to Walpole” and “Last Verses”’, Notes and Queries, volume 248, pages 278-280.
  • Groom N. (2003) ‘How was “Rowley” Pronounced?’, Notes and Queries, volume 248, pages 277-278. [PDF]

2002

  • Groom N. (2002) ‘Forgery, Plagiarism, Imitation, Pegleggery’, Plagiarism in Early Modern England, Palgrave, 74-89. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2002) ‘Reliques of Ancient English Poetry’. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2002) ‘Thomas Percy’. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2002) The Forger’s Shadow: How Forgery Changed the Course of Literature, Picador. [PDF]

2001

  • Groom N. (2001) Critical quarterly: Foreword, Critical Quarterly, volume 43, no. 2, pages 2-3, DOI:10.1111/1467-8705.00350.
  • Groom N, Piero. (2001) Introducing Shakespeare, Icon. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2001) ‘Original Copies; Counterfeit Forgeries’, Critical Quarterly, volume 43.2, pages 6-18. [PDF]

2000

  • Groom N, Rounce A. (2000) ‘Literature: 1756-1770’, Companion to Literature from Milton to Blake, Blackwell, 464-480. [PDF]
  • Groom N. (2000) ‘Forgery and Plagiarism’, Companion to Literature from Milton to Blake, Blackwell, 94-113.

1999

1996

1995

  • Groom N, Johnson S, Steevens G, Malone E, Shakespeare W. (1995) The Plays of William Shakespeare, Routledge. [PDF]

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More information

Recent Conference Papers (*keynote)

  1. ‘Catachthonic History: Historicizing the Archipelago.’ AARP Symposium, Willson Center, Georgia University, 10-14 April 2013
  2. ‘“Let’s discuss over country supper soon”: Rebekah Brooks and David Cameron – Rural Realities and Rustic Representations.’ The Rural Experience, Loughborough University, 26-28 March 2013
  3. ‘Draining the Irish Channel: Identity, Sustainability, and the Politics of Water.’ AARP Symposium: Over the Irish Sea, University College Dublin, 25-26 April 2012
  4. ‘Authenticity and the Archipelago: A Case of Highland Forgery’. Environment and Identity Conference, Pendennis Castle 20-21 July 2011 (and final roundtable panel member)
  5. ‘Archipelagic Ossian: Macpherson and Representations of the British Isles’. Eighteenth-Century Scottish Studies Society Conference, Aberdeen 7-10 July 2011
  6. *‘“The Rain it Raineth Every Day”: Weather, National Identity, and Climate Change.’ English and Welsh Diaspora: Regional Voices, Disparate Voices, Remembered Lives, Loughborough University, 13-16 April 2011
  7. *‘Rough Music.’ Romantic Counter-Cultures, Swansea University, 14 December 2009
  8. ‘The Wrecke of Nature’: Chatterton’s Ecosystems’, BARS Roehampton 23-6 July 2009
  9. *‘Seasons of the Gothic: Cultural Meteorology, National Identity, and Climate Change.’ Gothic Locations, inaugural conference, Wales and West Gothic Network, Cardiff University, 19 September 2008
  10. *‘Seasons of Song.’ Place, Writing and Voice, University of Plymouth, 5-6 September 2008
  11. ‘Jug Jug.’ Romantic Animals, University of Exeter, 7 July 2008
  12. ‘“Executioner-Style”: Nick Cave and the Murder Ballad Tradition.’ Nick Cave International Conference, University of Westminster, 5 July 2008
  13. Invited speaker: ‘Unoriginal Genius: Plagiarism and the Construction of “Romantic Authorship”.’ Inspiration, Interpretation or Infringement? Interdisciplinary Approaches to Creativity and Copyright (Law Faculty), Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 1 July 2008
  14. ‘What is the Future of the Union, Jack?’ Britishness, Identity and Citizenship, University of Huddersfield, 5-6 June 2008
  15.  ‘“With certain grand Cottleisms”: Southey and Cottle and the Making of Chatterton’s Works.’ Robert Southey and the Contexts of Romanticism, Keswick, 17-19 March 2008
  16. ‘Why Bother Editing Percy’s Reliques?’ The Voice of the People: The European Folk Revival, 1760-1914, University of Sheffield, 6-8 September 2007
17.‘Strange Music from Beyond the Wall of Sleep: Aeolian Harps, Seashells, and the Pagan Lyre.’ 36th Wordsworth Summer Conference, Grasmere, 30 July - 8 August, 2007. Plenary lecture, by invitation
  1. ‘Why Bother Annotating Percy’s Reliques?’ American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies 38th Annual Meeting, Atlanta, 22-5 March 2007

Recent Seminar Papers

  1. Invited participant to two British Academy-funded workshops on forgery and authenticity at University of Sheffield (22 January 2010 and 28 January 2011)
  2. ‘Kubla Khan’s Automatic Harp: Ambient Noise in Late-18th Century & Romantic Poetry.’ University of Sheffield (11 February 2010)
  3. Invited participant to Fabian Society Policy Conference: The Equality Summit, TUC London (17 December 2008)
  4. Invited participant to Fabian Society seminar on citizenship, Labour Party Conference, Manchester Town Hall (22 September 2008)
  5. ‘The Poetic Cymbals of “Kubla Khan”.’ Keele University (7 May 2008)
  6. ‘Damsels, Dulcimers, and the Devil’s Lyre: The Milk of Paradise and the Music of Pandaemonium.’ George Jack Lecture, University of St Andrews (24 April, 2008)
  7. ‘What was that Abyssinian Maid playing at?’ University of Plymouth (16 April 2008)

Recent Public Talks

  1. ‘The Gothic.’ Telegraph Literary Festival, Dartington (14 July 2013)
  2. ‘From The Lizard to Middle-Earth: Tolkien in Cornwall.’ (14 May 2013)
  3. ‘The Gothic.’ The Albion Beatnik Bookshop, Oxford (24 March 2013)
  4. Roundtable panel at the Oxford English Faculty Tolkien Spring School (23 March 2013)
  5.  ‘The Gothic.’ Sunday Times Literary Festival, Oxford (22 March 2013)
  6. ‘The Invention of May Day.’ Du Maurier Festival (16 May 2012)
  7. St Piran’s Day school workshops, Truro Cathedral (5 March 2012)
  8. ‘Thomas Chatterton: The First “Green” Poet?’ Thomas Chatterton Society Annual Lecture (24 April 2010)
  9. Two talks at Du Maurier Festival 2010 (Tolkien in Cornwall, Sabine Baring-Gould)
  10. ‘“When the wind whistles cold on the moor in the night”: Sabine Baring-Gould and the Hunting of the Werewolf.’ Joint talk with Dr Joanne Parker: Du Maurier Literary Festival, Fowey (12 May 2009).
  11. Organized ‘Tolkien Day’, Tremough Campus (6 May 2009)
  12. ‘Serge-Making and Cowslips, Chimney Swallows and a Great Heap of Stones: South Zeal in the Eighteenth Century.’ South Tawton and District Local History Group (30 January 2009)
  13. ‘Is There A Dartmoor Literature?’ Forum chair, Festival of Dartmoor Literature (11 May 2008)
  14. ‘Who Cares About Britishness?’ Discussion with Vron Ware, Bath Literary Festival (2 March 2008)

The Atlantic Archipelagos Research Project, set up with a British Academy grant, is in association with the Moore Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway. As part of this project, I organised the conference ‘Archipelagic Perspectives on Tim Robinson: an AARP Case study’ in 2011.

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