Personal profile

Biography

Kathryn Hughes was educated at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and holds a PhD in Victorian History. For the past fifteen years she has combined a career in literary journalism with university lecturing. Her first book, The Victorian Governess (1994) was based on her PhD. George Eliot: the Last Victorian (1999) won the James Tait Black award. In 2005 she published The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs Beeton, listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize and the Andre Simon Prize. Mrs Beeton and George Eliot were both subsequently filmed by the BBC, for which films she acted as consultant. Professor Hughes is also editor of George Eliot: A Family History (2000). Kathryn Hughes regularly presents and contributes to programmes on BBC Radio 3 and 4.  Since 2003 she has been contracted as a writer by the Guardian contributing both as a book reviewer and columnist. Kathryn Hughes has been a university lecturer since 1989, and in 2001 started teaching on UEA’s MA in Biography and Creative Non-Fiction. 

 

Career

Kathryn Hughes is Professor of Lifewriting and Convenor of the MA in Lifewriting.  Her first book The Victorian Governess was based on her PhD in Victorian History.  George Eliot: the Last Victorian won the James Tait Black award, and The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs Beeton was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize and the Andre Simon Prize.  Both books were filmed by the BBC.  Kathryn is also editor of George Eliot: A Family History and her most recent book is Victorians Undone.  She is contracted as a literary critic and columnist to the Guardian Newspaper.

Key Research Interests

In terms of PhD supervision, Kathryn Hughes is interested in hearing from anyone who is interested in exploring the history and theory of English/British biography, as well as anyone who is intending to write the life of a subject who inhabits the ‘long nineteenth century’. 

Areas of Expertise

Biography; Victorian history and literature; Mrs Beeton.

Teaching Interests

Kathryn teaches on the MA in Biography and Creative Non-Fiction