Seamus Perry (born 2 March 1967) is an English author, academic, a Fellow and Tutor of

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

and, since 2014, a Professor of English Literature in the English Faculty 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 ...

.Biography of Professor Dr. Seamus Perry
Great Writers Inspire websiteProfessor Seamus Perry
Faculty of English,

website In May 2025, he was elected to become Master of Balliol College from July 2026.

Life

Perry was born at the Aldershot General Hospital in

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

in 1967. He attended various local schools, including Heron Wood Boys' School, before studying at

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. In 1974, it was also one of the first men's colleges to admit women. It has 528 un ...

, where he took his undergraduate (1989) and graduate (1995) degrees. He was Oakeshott Junior Research Fellow at

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Flemin ...

, from 1995 to 1998 before moving to the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

from 1998 to 2003 where he was Lecturer and then Reader in English Literature. On his return to the

in 2003 he became a fellow of

, and a lecturer in the English Faculty. In 2014 he was appointed Professor of English Literature in the Faculty of English at Oxford. Perry's research interests lie mainly in the field of English Romantic poetry and thought, in particular in the works of Coleridge and

Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ...

. His other academic interest is in post-Romantic English poetry, in particular in the writings of

Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's ...

, Eliot, Auden, Larkin and the writers influenced by them. He also has an interest in the modern history of

literary criticism A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature's ...

, having written articles on the literary scholars and critics A. C. Bradley,

William Empson Sir William Empson (27 September 1906 – 15 April 1984) was an English literary critic and poet, widely influential for his practice of closely reading literary works, a practice fundamental to New Criticism. His best-known work is his firs ...

F. W. Bateson Frederick (Noel) Wilse Bateson (1901 – 1978) was an English literary scholar and critic. Life Bateson was born in Cheshire, and educated at Charterhouse and at Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and ...

and M. H. Abrams. He writes for the ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published bimonthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of Book ...

'', ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'' and other publications. With the British

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

and scholar Sir

Christopher Ricks Sir Christopher Bruce Ricks (born 18 September 1933) is a British literary critic and scholar. He is the William M. and Sara B. Warren Professor of the Humanities at Boston University (US), co-director of the Editorial Institute at Boston ...

and Freya Johnston he is co-editor of the journal ''Essays in Criticism: A Quarterly Journal of Literary Criticism'' (OUP), the general editor of the series ''21st-Century Oxford Authors'' (OUP) and the Oxford edition of the works of William Empson. Perry is a Trustee of the Wordsworth Trust and a member of the Advisory Council of the

Institute of English Studies The Institute of English Studies (abbreviated as IES) is a centre of excellence in the research, promotion and facilitation in the field English Literature and Language. With a specialisation in book history, palaeography and textual scholars ...

in the School for Advanced Studies at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. He was elected a Fellow of the

English Association The English Association is a subject association for English dedicated to furthering the study and enjoyment of English language and literature in schools, higher education institutes and amongst the public in general. It was founded in 1906 by ...

in 2005. He is a Fellow Librarian of Balliol College, where he is also Fellow for Charity Matters.

Publications

*''Matthew Arnold: Selected Writings'', Oxford University Press (2020) ISBN 9780199595563 *''Coleridge's Notebooks: A Selection'', Oxford University Press (2003) ISBN 9780198712022 *''Coleridge and the Uses of Division'', Oxford University Press (1999) ISBN 9780198183976 *''William Empson: Some Versions of Pastoral'', Oxford University Press (2020) ISBN 9780199659661 *with Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, ''Tennyson Among the Poets: Bicentenary Essays'', Oxford University Press (2009) ISBN 9780199557134 *''Chameleon Poet: R.S. Thomas and the Literary Tradition'', Oxford University Press (2013) ISBN 9780199687336 *(Contributor), ''The Cambridge Companion to Wordsworth'', Cambridge University Press (2003) ISBN 9780511999154

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Seamus 1967 births Writers from Aldershot People educated at Alderwood School Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford Fellows of Lincoln College, Oxford Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford Academics of the University of Glasgow Academics of the University of Oxford Oxford Professors of Poetry Academics of the School of Advanced Study Living people