Clair Wills, , is a British academic specialising in 20th-century British and Irish

cultural history Cultural history combines the approaches of anthropology and history to examine popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. It examines the records and narrative descriptions of past matter, encompassing the ...

and literature. Since 2019, she has been

King Edward VII Professor of English Literature The King Edward VII Professorship of English Literature is one of the senior List of Professorships at the University of Cambridge, professorships in literature at the University of Cambridge, and was founded by a donation from Harold Harmsworth, Si ...

at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

Murray Edwards College, Cambridge Murray Edwards College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1954 as New Hall. In 2008, following a donation of £30 million by alumna Ros Edwards and her husband Steve, it was renamed Murray Edwar ...

. After studying at the

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

, she taught at the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the an ...

and

Queen Mary University of London , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

. She was then Leonard L. Milberg ’53 Chair of Irish Letters at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

from 2015 to 2019, before moving to Cambridge.

Honours

In 2016, Wills was elected an Honorary Member of the Royal Irish Academy (HonMRIA). In July 2020, she was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

(FBA), the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and social sciences. In 2008, Wills was awarded the

Hessell-Tiltman Prize The Hessell-Tiltman History Prize is awarded to the best work of non-fiction of historical content covering a period up to and including World War II, and published in the year of the award. The books are to be of high literary merit, but not pr ...

for her book ''That Neutral Island'' (2007). In 2018, she was shortlisted for the

Orwell Prize The Orwell Prize, based at University College London, is a British prize for political writing. The Prize is awarded by The Orwell Foundation, an independent charity (Registered Charity No 1161563, formerly "The Orwell Prize") governed by a boa ...

for her book ''Lovers and Strangers: An Immigrant History of Post-War Britain'' (2017).

Selected works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wills, Clair Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century British non-fiction writers 20th-century British women writers 21st-century British non-fiction writers 21st-century British women writers Academics of Queen Mary University of London Academics of the University of Essex Cultural historians Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Fellows of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge Fellows of the British Academy Honorary Members of the Royal Irish Academy King Edward VII Professors of English Literature Literary historians Princeton University faculty