Helen Wenda Small (born 23 October 1964) is the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and a fellow of

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

. She was previously a fellow of

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located on Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England and VI of Scotland, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale ...

Early life

Small was born on 23 October 1964 in

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington is Capital of New Zealand, the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the List of cities in New Zealand, third-largest city ...

. Her parents are Colin McEwen Small and Wenda Mary Lavinia Heald. She attended Queen Margaret College, Wellington. She received a bachelors of arts degree in English from the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

in 1985 and a bachelor of arts with honours degree the following year. She received a Ph.D. from St Catharine's College at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1991 and was made an honorary fellow in 2018. Her partner is Tim Gardam and she has one daughter.

Career

Small worked as a residential fellow at St Catharine's College between 1990 and 1993, before working as a lecturer in English at the University of Bristol between 1993 and 1996. She was a lecturer at

, before becoming a professor and then a Jonathan and Julia Aisbitt Fellow in English Literature between 1996 and 2018. She was the recipient of a Leverhulme Research Fellowship from 2001 to 2004. She began working as a fellow of

, in 2018 and as the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature.

Published works

*''Love's Madness: Medicine, the Novel, and Female Insanity, 1800–1865'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1996) *''The Public Intellectual'' (editor; Blackwell, 2002) *''Literature, Science, Psychoanalysis, 1830–1970: Essays in Honour of Gillian Beer'' (editor, with Trudi Tate; Oxford University Press, 2003) *''The Long Life'' (Oxford University Press, 2007) *''The Value of the Humanities'' (Oxford University Press, 2013)

Awards and recognition

*2008: Rose Mary Crawshay Prize, ''The Long Life'' *2008: Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism, ''The Long Life'' *2018: Elected Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

References

External links

Faculty and Staff Profiles: Helen Small
1964 births Living people People educated at Queen Margaret College, Wellington Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Fellows of Pembroke College, Oxford Fellows of Merton College, Oxford Merton Professors of English Language and Literature Victoria University of Wellington alumni Rose Mary Crawshay Prize winners Fellows of the British Academy {{academic-bio-stub