English and Creative Writing

Research Group Leads: Professor David Sergeant and Dr Mandy Bloomfield

The English and Creative Writing research group at Plymouth brings together strengths in creative writing, cultural history, and literary studies, combining internationally recognised expertise with engagement in emerging areas of scholarship. Our research encompasses literatures of place, memory, and identity; environmental humanities and the Anthropocene; poetry and poetic practice; and archival literary and historical work. A key priority is the development of interdisciplinary research that brings the humanities into dialogue with fields such as environmental science, digital innovation, and health studies to address complex, cutting edge cultural and societal challenges.

Collaboration is central to our research. Members of the group work closely with partner organisations, cultural institutions, and community groups to shape public understanding and drive positive change. Recent projects have informed debates around mental health and wellbeing, deepened understanding of Britain's colonial legacies, and supported creative, participatory responses to the climate emergency.

We host a dynamic postgraduate community supported by a portfolio of MA programmes and a thriving PhD culture. 

English and Creative Writing at Plymouth was ranked first in the South West for 4*/3* research outputs and impact in REF2021, demonstrating the ‘world leading’ and ‘internationally excellent’ quality of the group's work. 

Research highlights

Poetry and our relationship with the sea
"We can no longer assume that the oceans are timeless and eternal. Human activities have changed the sea and we need to find new ways of imagining, conceptualising and interacting with them." Dr Mandy Bloomfield

Imagining the future in a time of climate emergency
Dr David Sergeant, Associate Professor of Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Literature, talks about his research into how fiction has developed.

Creative connections with nature
Nature connections: relational engagement with nature through (co) creative practice.

Mayflower 400
Dr Kathryn Napier Gray, Decolonising cultural heritage and transforming narratives of remembering.