Sarah Wride
Research Associate

Profile

Biography

Sarah Wride completed her PhD at the University of York in 2019. She is particularly interested in how and why conceptions of what ‘culture’ is and does have changed over time. The figure of the writer as a Member of Parliament, as a rival effecter of real-world change, emerged between 1772 and 1828, as the House of Commons discounted more and more high-profile demonstrations of ‘public’ opinion. Sarah’s doctoral thesis explored (a) the variations of this figure created when doubts were cast on MPs’ right to enact laws after 1776, how far they really were elected by and represented the interests of the ‘people’ in Parliament, and (b) writers’ use of those variations to articulate concerns about their own right to write.

Sarah’s postdoctoral focus is how and why homicides committed in Britain and Ireland 1827-1953 have been represented, and their copycat and other effects. She is currently developing and adapting her doctoral work for publication as an academic monograph and as trade non-fiction, producing a podcast series about the history and ethics of the true crime genre, and preparing a case study of Oscar Wilde’s true murder writings. In addition to running a consultancy and research support business, Sarah is now an Associate Editor of The Year’s Work in English Studies (responsible for ‘The Eighteenth Century’ and ‘Literature 1780-1830: The Romantic Period’).

She has held research fellowships at UCLA and the University of Oxford, teaching roles at the University of York and Bishop Grosseteste University, and the co-chair of HistoryLab+, the UK’s national network for early career historians.