My PhD thesis concerns the relationship between theology and literary form in the work of novelist, theologian, and literary critic George MacDonald. By considering these particular areas of MacDonald’s literary work, this project contributes to our understanding of the relationship between nineteenth-century religious and literary culture, while also demonstrating how MacDonald’s theological approach to literary criticism made him a distinctive contributor to this emergent field. My project is supervised by Professor Mark Knight.

In 2019 I was awarded a Short-term Collections-based Fellow at Yale’s Institute of Sacred Music, where I undertook research on the George MacDonald Collection at the Beinecke Library. You can read more about my research here: https://beinecke.library.yale.edu/article/new-scholarship-amanda-vernon-george-macdonald

Before starting the PhD I completed an MA in English Literary Studies at the University of Exeter, a Diploma in Theological Studies at the University of Oxford, and a BA in English Literature at the University of Buckingham. 

First-year undergraduate module ENGL100.

(In)Formed by Theology: A Study of George MacDonald’s Literary Criticism

2019

Short-Term Collections-Based Fellowship at the Institute of Sacred Music, Yale University

General Scholarship for research in the Arts and Humanities, awarded by Gladstone’s Library

2018

Conference Travel Grant awarded by the Graduate College, Lancaster University

Postgraduate Conference Presentation Grant awarded by FASS, Lancaster University

IRSLC Funding awarded to present at IRSLC Conference