I am a Senior Lecturer in Literary Studies and have been teaching in universities since 2000. It was the study of the Brontë novels at A level that made me want to go on and study for a BA in Literature. Although I went into university as a fan of Victorian literature, I emerged 8 years later as a specialist in the contemporary.
My research has principally focused on the step away from late twentieth-century postmodernism and towards an ecocentric trend in writing. My publications include work on contemporary British writers such as Jon McGregor and Sarah Hall.
Professional memberships and activities
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Academic qualifications
- PhD in contemporary literature: Remembering Identity After Postmodernity (2004), Bangor University
- Postgraduate Certificate of Teaching in Higher Education (2004), Bangor University (converted to a HEA Fellowship)
- MA in Feminist readings of Gothic and Magical Realist Literature (1999) from Bangor University, winning the ‘John F. Denby Memorial Prize’ for postgraduate work.
- BA Hons English Literature (1997) from Bangor University
Expertise
- Ecocriticism
- Eco-lit, cli-fi and the posthuman/literatures of the Anthropocene
- Blue Humanities Magical Realism/Weird Lit
- Eco-gothic literature
Research interests
- Ecocriticism
- Eco-lit, cli-fi and the posthuman/literatures of the Anthropocene
- Caribbean Magical Realism
- Eco-gothic literature
Teaching
- Ecocriticism Postcolonial literatures
- Magical Realism Gothic fiction Contemporary literature
- Victorian literature
- Children’s literature
Publications
Ebdon, Melanie (2024) 'There was weather': Jon McGregor's Reservoir 13 and Climate Realism in the Contemporary British Novel' in Holloway, P. and Jordan-Baker, C. Writing Landscape and Setting in the Anthropocene: Britain and Beyond. Palgrave Macmillan.
Ebdon, Melanie (2022) ‘Real Nature’ in Beaumont, A. & D’hoker, E. Sarah Hall: Critical Essays. Gylphi Contemporary Writers.
Gylphi, Burnham, D and M. Ebdon (2009) ‘Philosophy, Literature and Interpretation’ in J. Mullarkey and B. Lord The Bloomsbury Companion to Continental Philosophy. Bloomsbury: London