Helen Wenda Small (born 23 October 1964) is the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and a fellow of Merton College, Oxford. She was previously a fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford.

Early life

Small was born on 23 October 1964 in

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. Her parents are Colin McEwen Small and Wenda Mary Lavinia Heald. She attended Queen Margaret College, Wellington. She received a bachelors of arts degree in English from the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well kno ...

in 1985 and a bachelor of arts with honours degree the following year. She received a Ph.D. from St Catharine's College at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

in 1991 and was made an honorary fellow in 2018. Her partner is

Tim Gardam Timothy David Gardam (born 14 January 1956), is a British journalist, media executive and educator. He was Director of Television at Channel 4 until 2003, after which he served as Principal of St Anne's College, Oxford until 2016. He now serves ...

and she has one daughter.

Career

Small worked as a residential fellow at St Catharine's College between 1990 and 1993, before working as a lecutrer in English at the University of Bristol between 1993 and 1996. She was a lecturer at Pembroke College, Oxford, before becoming a professor and then a Jonathan and Julia Aisbitt Fellow in English Literature between 1996 and 2018. She was the recipient of a

Leverhulme The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to suppo ...

Research Fellowship from 2001 to 2004. She began working as a fellow of Merton College, Oxford, in 2018 and as the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature.

Published works

*''Love's Madness: Medicine, the Novel, and Female Insanity, 1800-1865'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1996) *''The Public Intellectual'' (editor; Blackwell, 2002) *''Literature, Science, Psychoanalysis, 1830-1970: Essays in Honour of Gillian Beer'' (editor, with Trudi Tate; Oxford University Press, 2003) *''The Long Life'' (Oxford University Press, 2007) *''The Value of the Humanities'' (Oxford University Press, 2013)

Awards and recognition

*2008: Rose Mary Crawshay Prize, ''The Long Life'' *2008: Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism, ''The Long Life'' *2018: Elected Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...

References

External links

Faculty and Staff Profiles: Helen Small
1964 births Living people People educated at Queen Margaret College, Wellington Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Fellows of Pembroke College, Oxford Fellows of Merton College, Oxford Merton Professors of English Language and Literature Victoria University of Wellington alumni Rose Mary Crawshay Prize winners Fellows of the British Academy {{academic-bio-stub