Natasha Booth-Johnson

Thesis title:

Queer Fiction by Politically Active Female Authors (1870-1910)

My project examines late nineteenth-century texts authored by women which feature queer female relationships. I intend to uncover a reparative lesbian literary history by shifting focus from canonical writers to those who have hitherto been overlooked, including Edith Simcox (1844-1901), Mona Caird (1854-1932), and Isabella Ormston-Ford (1855-1924), all of whom were also active in women’s movements and wrote political non-fiction. Drawing together the political discourses surrounding women’s suffrage and sexology, I investigate the intersection of women’s agency between lesbianism and activism, illuminating a heretofore forgotten literary movement.

Research Area

English Language and Literature
Languages and Literature

Publications

Booth-Johnson, Natasha, 'Dustin Friedman's Before Queer Theory: Victorian Aestheticism and the Self (Review)', Ad Alta Vol 11 (2019)

Conferences

'The Evidence of [Her] Own Senses': Gender, Power, and Marriage in the Spiritualist Fiction of Florence Marryat', Gothic Studies Works in Progress, August 2021

'Edith Simcox's Queer Entities', ROLES XI Annual Conference, June 2022

'Edith Simcox's Queer Bodies', British Association of Decadent Studies - Decadent Bodies, July 2022

Memberships

Birmingham Nineteenth Century Centre

British Association of Decadent Studies

British Association for Victorian Studies

Victorian Popular Fiction Association

Awards

Global Undergraduate Awards (2019) - Highly Commended