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Dr. Natasha Simonova

Writer and scholar of 18th-century literature.

About

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I completed my PhD in English Literature in 2014, and have since worked as a lecturer and researcher at the Universities of Edinburgh, Cambridge, and Oxford. I am currently based in London.

I specialise in literature of the Early Modern period and the long 18th century (c. 1500-1830) - particularly women's writing, manuscript cultures, and how studying texts beyond the canon can shed new light on literary history. Other interests include romance and the early novel, the history of literary criticism, and the 18th century on screen.

I have taught texts from Chaucer to the Aliens franchise and designed new courses for a variety of audiences. I am active in public engagement, including podcasts, events for general audiences, and writing for History Today, as well as my book in progress: The Grey Ladies: The Secret Literary Lives of 18th-Century Women, coming soon from Chatto & Windus (UK and Commonwealth). I also write fiction.

I am represented by Doug Young at PEW Literary


The Grey Ladies: The Secret Lives of 18th-Century Women

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Forthcoming from Chatto & Windus, The Grey Ladies is a group biography of Jemima, Marchioness Grey (1722-1797) and her daughter Amabel (1751-1833), as well as the other talented women of their circle. Neither ‘bluestockings’ nor ‘scarlet women,’ they remain almost unknown today. Yet they spent their lives at the centre of the cultural and political events of the day, participating in coteries and producing highly creative work in a variety of genres. My book draws on the vast manuscript archive of letters, diaries, and documents they left behind, in order to tell their story in their own words: their friendships, griefs, travels, intellectual occupations, and the way that they constantly wrote themselves in and out of visibility against the colourful background of the Georgian period.

For more on the Greys, please see my recent publications and podcasts below.


Publications

For general audiences

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Academic

Book coverEarly Modern Authorship and Prose Continuations: Adaptation and Ownership from Sidney to Richardson (Palgrave Macmillan 2015). 

The first in-depth account of fictional sequels in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, my monograph examines cases of fiction works being continued by multiple writers - reading them for evidence of Early Modern attitudes towards authorship, originality, and literary property.

'An intelligent and nuanced intervention in the history of authorship...an excellent piece of scholarship...well worth a space on any early modern scholar’s shelf.' (Amy D. Stackhouse, SHARP News)

'Well written and lively...a useful contribution to discourses of the history of the book.' (Marea Mitchell, Review of English Studies)

Available in hardcover, paperback and ebook.

Reviews and reference


Fiction

‘The Rebel Engine’ Stories in the Ether (February 2012).

‘The Ambassadors.’ Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine (Spring 2011).

One of those relatively subtle stories that has layers of meaning packaged with a mystery and action. There is a tremendous sense of place about it, as if the writer had actually been there...Perhaps we'll be hearing a lot more from Ms Simonova in the future, about the past.
- Ian Nichols

‘The Scrying-Glass of Doctor Dee.’ M-Brane SF (September 2010). 

‘Last Voyage.’ Paradox: The Magazine of Historical and Speculative Fiction (Spring 2009). 

Simonova...weaves a powerful yet tragic tale of heroism, self-discovery, and acceptance of one's own mortality. A fine tale well worth reading.
The Fix 

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Appearances & Eventsinchbald2

Upcoming

I will be speaking at the 'Quills and Characters: Approaches to Women's Letters 1660-1860' online conference hosted by Chawton House, 1-2 September 2023 (with recordings of sessions available). Registration is free but closes 31 August. 

Podcasts 

'Not One Single Subject to Entertain You With.' Your Most Obedient & Humble Servant, May 2023. 

'Pirates and Purcell.' Criticks Aloud, March 2022.

'Black Sails.' Overinvested, March 2018.

'Black Sails and Literature.' Fathoms Deep, November 2017.

Video

Keynote: ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Bluestockings.’ Habit in the Long Eighteenth Century Conference, UCL, February 2021. 

Public Events

The Woodcutter, or The Three Wishes
Oxford, Wimpole Estate, Wrest Park - June 2023
Collaborative project exploring the shared literary heritage of Wrest and Wimpole, culminating in a student-led production of a rediscovered manuscript play at each site.

Novel Impressions Workshops 
Hilton Primary Academy, the Action Foundation, and Northern Print Studio, Newcastle - February 2022
Series of workshops on letters and printing for primary school and refugee groups, funded by the British Academy/Novel Impressions Network.


Contact

Twitter: @philistella

Bluesky: @philistella.bsky.social 

For research, teaching, consultancy, or public engagement, email me at natasha.simonova@ell.ox.ac.uk.

For literary enquiries, please contact Doug Young at PEW Literary.