I research, write about and teach English and Comparative Literature and Culture, with a focus on representations of democracy and rights

One-to-one meetings: in person at FW113 or online. Please book here: https://calendly.com/isabelle-parkinson

I have taught English and comparative literature and culture at post-16 and undergraduate level for over 20 years, including at Queen Mary University, at several London sixth form colleges, and at an international school in India. I am committed to student-centered learning and to a holistic approach that values mental health and neurodiversity.

I research and write about early-twentieth century literature, democracy and education. I am particularly interested in the American avant-garde writer Gertrude Stein (the subject of my PhD and recent book) and the world of radical artists and writers she joined when she moved to Paris in 1903. She and her friends and acquaintances, taking advantage of the freedom Paris offered, challenged cultural and social norms in their creative work and in their ways of life. Sometimes their experiments were admirable, but sometimes they were very problematic, and this is the tricky ground my research explores.