About us

The Department of English at Royal Holloway offers expertise across the full chronological and specialist range of English literary study, forging a reputation as one of the most dynamic departments of English in the UK.

PhD students enjoy a varied and lively research culture based in both our London and Egham campuses. The Centre for Victorian Studies hosts popular lectures by international scholars, usually held in the Royal Holloway Picture Gallery, a superb and renowned collection of 19th-century paintings, while readings and performances from our Creative Writing students and internationally recognised staff are a regular feature of our cultural life. These are just examples of what there is to choose from to enrich your time at Royal Holloway and to bring intellectual engagement and community with your fellow researchers.

From time to time, we make changes to our courses to improve the student and learning experience, and this is particularly the case as we continue to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. If we make a significant change to your chosen course, we’ll let you know as soon as we can.

Your future career

Many of our PhD graduates have gone on to successful academic careers in tertiary and secondary education. Others have obtained posts at the British Library, Shakespeare’s Globe and a wide variety of museum, curation and arts management projects. Some practice-based graduates now work in Creative Writing posts in academic institutions, and many have published successful (and in many cases award-winning) novels and books of poetry.