Dr Penny Pritchard

I am an experienced researcher and lecturer in early modern English literature, with particular expertise in the history and literature of English Protestant dissent and the writing of Daniel Defoe. The principal focus of my research has considered the relationship between different textual genres in seventeenth and eighteenth-century English writing, both those formally considered as 'literature' and others, such as funeral sermons and political pamphlets.  

My key research interests include the early modern period/the 'long eighteenth century' in English culture, and the history and writing of English Protestant dissenters from 1600-1800. Other areas of research interest are the history of the book in early modern England, and studies in genre and narrative theory.

I have been teaching and lecturing in the further and higher education sector for twenty years; my special areas of teaching expertise are focused on English literature and culture from 1660-1800. Since 2019 I have served as Head of English Literature and Creative Writing for the University of Hertfordshire.