Personal statement

Nicola has research interests in Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, post-war British, Irish and American fiction and digital literature. Her research is often interdisciplinary in nature, and she is particularly interested in the intersection of popular culture and literature.

Academic qualifications

  • BA (Hons) - Bath Spa University
  • MRes - Bath Spa University
  • PhD - Bath Spa University

Professional memberships

  • Fellow - Higher Education Academy

Other external roles

  • Assistant Editor - Irish Studies Review

Areas of expertise

  • Sylvia Plath
  • Anne Sexton
  • William Golding
  • Literature and popular culture
  • Literature and digital culture

Teaching subjects

Nicola teaches on the following modules:

  • Critical Reading 1
  • Critical Reading 3: Subject and Structure
  • Literature and Digital Culture
  • Critical Reading 4: Equivocal Matter
  • The English Project
  • Literature and Psychology

Impact

Nicola gave talks on William Golding and popular culture at Marlborough Literature Festival (2017) and Salisbury Literature Festival (2017). She has also produced and featured in a series of YouTube videos about Golding.

Research and academic outputs

Go to ResearchSPAce

Plath and media culture
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Presley, N (2022) 'Plath and media culture.' In: Helle, A, Golden, A and O'Brien, M, eds. The Bloomsbury handbook to Sylvia Plath. Bloomsbury Academic, London, pp. 233-242. ISBN 9781350119222

‘Why aren’t there more women in your books?’ Ann and William Golding
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Presley, N (2021) '‘Why aren’t there more women in your books?’ Ann and William Golding.' In: Dresvina, J, ed. Thanks for typing: remembering forgotten women in history. Bloomsbury, London, pp. 211-218. ISBN 9781350150065

Plath and television
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Presley, N (2019) 'Plath and television.' In: Brain, T, ed. Sylvia Plath in context. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 148-157. ISBN 9781108470131

"A buried land and a blazing source": Ted Hughes and William Golding
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Presley, N (2018) '"A buried land and a blazing source": Ted Hughes and William Golding.' Ted Hughes Society Journal, 7 (1). pp. 77-88. ISSN 2051-7270

Plath, television and TV advertising
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Presley, N (2017) Plath, television and TV advertising. In: Sylvia Plath: Letters, Words and Fragments, 10 - 11 November 2017, University of Ulster, Belfast, Ireland.

William Golding’s legacy
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Presley, N (2017) William Golding’s legacy. In: Marlborough Literature Festival, 28 September – 1 October 2017, Marlborough, UK.

‘For we swallow magic and we deliver Anne’: Anne Sexton and the trick of the confessional
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Presley, N (2015) ‘For we swallow magic and we deliver Anne’: Anne Sexton and the trick of the confessional. In: Writing Women's Lives, 25 - 26 April 2015, Bath Spa University, UK.

The book app: an exploration
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Presley, N (2013) The book app: an exploration. In: E-Reading Between the Lines: C21 Literature, Digital Platforms and Literacies, 5 July 2013, University of Brighton, UK.

'No ads, please. FM only': Anne Sexton and the ambiguities of radio
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Presley, N (2013) 'No ads, please. FM only': Anne Sexton and the ambiguities of radio. In: BAAS 58th Annual Conference, 18 - 21 April 2013, University of Exeter, UK.

Many are the deceivers. Anne Sexton's transformations and suburban popular culture
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Presley, N (2011) Many are the deceivers. Anne Sexton's transformations and suburban popular culture. In: Myths and Fairy Tales in Film and Literature post-1900, University of York.

William Golding and popular culture
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Presley, N (2011) William Golding and popular culture. In: Golding Centenary Conference, 2011, Cornwall.

Exposing Daddy Warbucks: Anne Sexton and the cultural impact of comics
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Presley, N (2007) Exposing Daddy Warbucks: Anne Sexton and the cultural impact of comics. In: Feminism and Popular Culture, 29th June to 1st July, Newcastle.

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? politics, popular culture and war: intertextuality in selected work of Sylvia Plath
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Presley, N (2007) Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? politics, popular culture and war: intertextuality in selected work of Sylvia Plath. In: Sylvia Plath 75th Symposium, Oxford.

That story: the fairy tale family romance in the work of Anne Sexton
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Presley, N (2006) That story: the fairy tale family romance in the work of Anne Sexton. In: Kicking Daffodils, UWE, Bristol, UK.

Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath and media culture
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Presley, N (2020) Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath and media culture. PhD thesis, Bath Spa University.

Toward a digital poetics: electronic literature & literary games [book review]
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Presley, N (2021) Toward a digital poetics: electronic literature & literary games [book review]. C21 Literature: Journal of 21st-Century Writings, 9 (1). pp. 1-4. ISSN 2045-5224

Hunting girls: sexual violence from 'The hunger games' to campus rape by Kelly Oliver & Beyond blurred lines: rape culture in popular media by Nickie D. Phillips [book reviews]
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Presley, N (2019) Hunting girls: sexual violence from 'The hunger games' to campus rape by Kelly Oliver & Beyond blurred lines: rape culture in popular media by Nickie D. Phillips [book reviews]. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 96 (1). pp. 310-312. ISSN 2161-430X

The Letters of Sylvia Plath, Vol II:1956–1963 [book review]
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Presley, N (2019) The Letters of Sylvia Plath, Vol II:1956–1963 [book review]. The Ted Hughes Society Journal, 7 (2). pp. 86-90. ISSN 2051-7270

Cyber Ireland: text, image, culture [book review]
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Presley, N (2018) Cyber Ireland: text, image, culture [book review]. Irish Studies Review, 26 (3). pp. 429-430. ISSN 0967-0882