Janet Margaret Todd OBE (born 10 September 1942) is a British academic and author. She was educated at

Cambridge University , 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 the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, where she undertook a doctorate on the poet

John Clare John Clare (13 July 1793 – 20 May 1864) was an English poet. The son of a farm labourer, he became known for his celebrations of the English countryside and sorrows at its disruption. His work underwent major re-evaluation in the late 20th ce ...

. Much of her work concerns

Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft (, ; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationsh ...

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

, and their circles.

Career

Academic career

She has worked in universities in Ghana (

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guinea ...

), Puerto Rico ( Mayaguez), North America (

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

), India (New Delhi), England (

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

). She was appointed professor of English Literature at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

in 2000, and was then at

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

from 2004 until she took up in 2008 the post of president of

Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge Lucy Cavendish College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college is named in honour of Lucy Cavendish (1841–1925), who campaigned for the reform of women's education. Hist ...

, from which she retired in 2015. She is now a full-time novelist and researcher living in Cambridge. She is a Honorary Fellow of

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sid ...

Author

Todd's writing concerns literature and culture of the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

and eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Over a long career she has published more than 40 critical and biographical books and collections of essays, mainly on women authors, women's writing, cultural history and the development of fiction. She has edited full-scale editions of

(with

Marilyn Butler Marilyn Speers Butler, Lady Butler, FRSA, FRSL, FBA (''née'' Evans; 11 February 1937 – 11 March 2014) was a British literary critic. She was King Edward VII Professor of English Literature at the University of Cambridge from 1986 to 1993, ...

) and

Aphra Behn Aphra Behn (; bapt. 14 December 1640 – 16 April 1689) was an English playwright, poet, prose writer and translator from the Restoration era. As one of the first English women to earn her living by her writing, she broke cultural barrie ...

, as well as individual works of women such as Charlotte Smith,

Helen Maria Williams Helen Maria Williams (17 June 1759 – 15 December 1827) was a British novelist, poet, and translator of French-language works. A religious dissenter, she was a supporter of abolitionism and of the ideals of the French Revolution; she was impri ...

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic fiction, Gothic novel ''Frankenstein, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an History of scie ...

Mary Carleton Mary Carleton (born ''Mary Moders''; 11 August 1642 – 22 January 1673) was an Englishwoman who used false identities, such as a German princess, to marry and defraud a number of men. Early life Born Mary Moders in Canterbury. According to ...

and

Eliza Fenwick Eliza Fenwick (; 1 February 1767 – 8 December 1840) was an English author, whose works include ''Secresy; or The Ruin on the Rock'' (1795) and several children's books. She was born in Cornwall, married an alcoholic, and had two children by hi ...

. She is the General Editor of the nine-volume ''The Cambridge Edition of the Works of

'', editor of the volume ''Jane Austen in Context'', and co-editing ''Persuasion'' and ''Later Manuscripts'' and author of the ''Cambridge Introduction to Jane Austen''. In the US she started the first journal devoted to women writers and more recently in the UK she has been the co-founder with Marie Mulvey-Roberts of ''Women's Writing''. Since retirement, she has revised her biography of

, ''Aphra Behn: A Secret Life'', and published four novels: ''A Man of Genius'', ''Don't You Know There's a War On?'', ''Jane Austen and Shelley in the Garden'', and an Austen spin-off, ''Lady Susan Plays the Game''. In 2018, she published ''Radiation Diaries'', her account of a month of cancer treatment, a frank, witty and scholarly memoir, and, in 2019, a revised, colour-illustrated edition of

's unfinished work, ''Jane Austen's Sanditon with an Essay by Janet Todd''.

Honours

In the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hon ...

, Todd was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) "for services to higher education and literary scholarship".

Selected publications

* * * * (published as ''Rebel Daughters: Ireland in Conflict'' in the US) * * * Edited with Linda Bree *''A Man of Genius'', Bitter Lemon Press. 2016. *''Aphra Behn: A Secret Life.'' Fentum Press. 16 May 2017. . *''Radiation Diaries''. Fentum Press. 2018. * ''Jane Austen's Sanditon with an Essay by Janet Todd''. Fentum Press. 2019. * ''Don't You Know There's a War On?''. Fentum Press. 2020. EBook * ''Jane Austen and Shelley in the Garden''. Fentum Press. 2021. EBook

References

External links

Janet Todd's homepage

Profile at Lucy Cavendish College

Profile at the University of Aberdeen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, Janet 1942 births Living people Academics of the University of Glasgow Officers of the Order of the British Empire University of Florida alumni Academics of the University of East Anglia Presidents of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge Honorary Fellows of Newnham College, Cambridge Place of birth missing (living people) Mary Wollstonecraft scholars Academics of the University of Aberdeen