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Dr Amy Wilcockson, BA, MA, PhD (Nottingham), FHEA

Amy

MHRA Research Fellow in English Literature

Email: a.wilcockson@qmul.ac.uk

Profile

I'm currently an MHRA Research Fellow at Queen Mary University of London, working alongside Dr Will Bowers and the project team on a new edition of the letters of the Romantic poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822).  

Prior to this role, I worked for two years as a Research Assistant in Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow, on ‘The Works of Robert Fergusson: Reconstructing Textual and Cultural Legacies’ project. I assisted with foundational work towards a new edition of Robert Fergusson’s poems and co-organised a large public engagement programme to commemorate two-hundred and fifty years since Fergusson’s death in 2024, working with partners including the National Galleries of Scotland, National Library of Scotland and the Scottish Poetry Library.  

My PhD in Romantic period literature was awarded in 2024 by the University of Nottingham. My thesis was an edition of the letters of the neglected Scottish poet, Thomas Campbell (1777-1844). My first book, based on my thesis work, is forthcoming with Liverpool University Press. 

I’m from Nottinghamshire and my love of Romantic period literature began thanks to childhood visits to Newstead Abbey, Lord Byron’s ancestral home!  

Research

Research Interests:

  • Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century literature, history and culture 
  • Scholarly editing, letters and manuscripts  
  • Biography, reputation and forgotten figures 
  • Scotland in the Romantic period
  • Anniversaries and significant dates in literary history 
  • How the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries are represented in books and on-screen in the twenty-first century 

My research focuses on archival study, scholarly editing, networks, and ideas of reception and reputation. I am currently assisting with volume one of the three-volume The Letters of Percy Bysshe Shelley, under contract with Oxford University Press. Alongside this, I am finalising my first book, The Selected Letters of Thomas Campbell, which is forthcoming with Liverpool University Press.  

I am thrilled to be undertaking research fellowships at Chawton House and the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh, to develop research projects on subscription lists and Scottish coterie culture during the Romantic period.   

I have articles and chapters in press and in preparation on Thomas Campbell; Robert Fergusson and Scottish periodical culture; Richard Lovell Edgeworth; Edward Lear; and death boats!  

Publications

I am in the final stages of preparing my contracted book, The Selected Letters of Thomas Campbell, for Liverpool University Press.  
 
Published: 

Public-facing Articles and Encyclopaedia Entries: 

  • ‘Campbell, Thomas’, in Poets THEN and NOW: The 1910-1911 Encyclopædia Britannica Romantic Poetry Project. Edition 1.7. University of Victoria, ed. G. Kim Blank (17 Oct 2024). 
  • ‘Thomas Campbell’, The Literary Encyclopedia, 1.2.1.06 (7 Sep 2020). 

Public Engagement

I am really passionate about public engagement, and love sharing my research with a range of different audiences.  

My written work has been published in The Times Literary Supplement, History Today Magazine, BBC History Magazine and The Conversation. I've appeared on podcasts, on the radio, and my work has been featured in the national press on numerous occasions. ​In 2020 I was a TV PhD candidate working with AHRC and the Edinburgh TV Festival, and I was shortlisted as an AHRC/BBC New Generation Thinker for 2025. 

My discovery of previously unpublished manuscripts authored by the Victorian nonsense poet, Edward Lear, was a particularly proud research moment. In 2021, I published these discoveries in the Times Literary Supplement, which led to appearances on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, BBC News Online, and in many newspapers and online news outlets. The press coverage for this discovery was valued at £3.5 million. I was also invited to speak at a special British Library event dedicated to Lear and these discoveries, which featured myself, the actor Dominic West, writer and podcaster Andrew Hunter Murray, and academics Sara Lodge and Noreen Masud.  

The Robert Fergusson celebrations and commemorations in 2024-2025 which I co-organised were attended by hundreds of members of the public. Our celebration of Fergusson’s life featured speakers including the authors Andrew O’Hagan, James Robertson and Billy Kay. Further events were held at the National Galleries of Scotland; National Library of Scotland; Mitchell Library, Glasgow; Braw Clan Scots Language Theatre Company; University of Edinburgh; The Real Mary King’s Close; and the Scottish Poetry Library. Press coverage for this project was valued at £2.7 million. I am also the co-editor of a poetry collection ‘O’er a my labours sey your skill’: Poetic Responses to Robert Fergusson, which contains original compositions in Scots, Gaelic and English by established and up-and-coming poets from around the world.  

I have worked extensively with museums and literary heritage attractions, including developing research into the Byron family letters for Newstead Abbey, and co-curating exhibitions at Glasgow’s Mitchell Library and Nottingham’s Lakeside Arts Centre. I redesigned the D.H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum’s education provision to align with the national curriculum and obtained Arts Award Advisor status to deliver this provision in primary schools. I also spent a wonderful three-days as Academic Lead for a three-day immersive workshop with refugees, organised in conjunction with and hosted at Wordsworth Grasmere.  

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