Personal statement

I'm a nature writer and literary ecocritic. Cold Blood, my nature writing memoir about the British reptiles and amphibians, their meanings and my fascination with them dating from childhood, was published by Chatto and Windus in May 2014.

My nature writing has also been published in BBC Wildlife, Granta Online and Poetry Review. I received the BBC Wildlife Award for Nature Writing in 1990 and 1991, and the Roger Deakin Award from the Society of Authors for 2012.

I direct MA Creative Writing and co-ordinate research and postgraduate studies in the School of Creative Industries, representing the school on the university Research, Scholarship and Consultancy Committee, co-ordinating REF preparation, advising the HOS on the allocation of research funds, and advising staff on all research matters.

I've supervised to successful completion seven PhDs in English Literature and Creative Writing.

"Cold Blood shows us how much is to be gained from studying nature. A book that persuades anyone to try sampling life at first-hand rather than at second is much to be welcomed."

Steve Jones, Sunday Telegraph

"As a memoir, Cold Blood has the feel of a minor classic. It is exquisite. As a piece of nature writing, it is also rich, subtle and shot through with quiet passion."

James McConnachie, Sunday Times

"In prose as effortless as a snake's progress, Richard Kerridge has written a wry, wise and refreshingly understated memoir."

Patrick Barkham, The Guardian

"Cold Blood casts an unexpected but beautiful love-light across ordinary England, and its uncaring reptiles and amphibians."

Tim Dee, The Observer

"Subtle and meditative, lyrical and passionate"

Gavin Francis

"Simply wonderful. The natural history book I have been waiting for"

Brett Westwood

"A mix of memoir, science writing and hymn to nature, this will propel Kerridge into the pantheon of great 21st-century nature writers. He tells the story of his fascination with reptiles and explains what it is to be cold blooded."

Patrick Neale, The Bookseller

"[A] perceptive memoir...Cold Blood is proof that an early infatuation with the natural world can lead to a lifetime of wonder"

Barbara Kiser, Nature

"Perceptive and original... Kerridge writes vividly of the natural world"

Gerard Henderson, Daily Express

"[A] perceptive memoir... Cold Blood is proof that an early infatuation with the natural world can lead to a lifetime of wonder"

Pete Dommett, BBC Wildlife

  • BA (Hons) University of Cambridge
  • MA University of Cambridge
  • PGCE University of Sussex

Professional memberships

  • Elected to the Executive Committee of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE), December 2005. Stood by invitation for election to Vice-Presidency, 2007 (not elected).
  • Chair, ASLE-UK, 1999-2004. Treasurer.
  • Invited member, English Subject Centre Focus Group (Creative Writing).
  • Member, ESC/NAWE steering committee for A-Level Creative Writing, 2006.

Teaching specialisms

  • Ecocriticism, writing and environmentalism, nature writing
  • Contemporary novels and poetry
  • Writing and politics
  • Creative writing, especially prose fiction and nature writing
  • The writer and place
  • Practical criticism and close reading
  • Literary theory
  • Modernism and postmodernism

Research and academic outputs

Go to ResearchSPAce

J.H. Prynne, The oval window: a new annotated edition
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Reeve, N.H and Kerridge, R, eds. (2018) J.H. Prynne, The oval window: a new annotated edition. Bloodaxe Books, Hexham. ISBN 9781780371269

Cold blood: adventures with reptiles and amphibians
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Kerridge, R (2014) Cold blood: adventures with reptiles and amphibians. Chatto & Windus, London. ISBN 9780701187958

The face of the Earth: natural landscapes, science, and culture
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Kerridge, R, Campbell, S, Hunt, A, Lynch, T and Wohl, E (2011) The face of the Earth: natural landscapes, science, and culture. University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 9780520269262

Writing the environment: ecocriticism and literature
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Kerridge, R and Sammells, N (1998) Writing the environment: ecocriticism and literature. Zed Books, London. ISBN 9781856494304

Nearly too much
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Kerridge, R and Reeve, N (1995) Nearly too much. Liverpool English Texts and Studies, 26 . Liverpool University Press, Liverpool. ISBN 0853238502

The essay, ecocriticism, and the Anthropocene
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Kerridge, R (2024) 'The essay, ecocriticism, and the Anthropocene.' In: Gigante, D and Childs, J, eds. The Cambridge history of the British essay. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 712-727. ISBN 9781316516508

Truelove's tiger
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Kerridge, R (2023) 'Truelove's tiger.' In: Saunders, H and Smith, J, eds. Speculative nature writing: an anthology. Guillemot Press, Cornwall, pp. 211-234. ISBN 9781913749460

Nature writing
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Kerridge, R (2021) 'Nature writing.' In: Tyler, D, ed. The Cambridge companion to prose. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 214-232. ISBN 9781108837408

All is deep: all is shallow - literary springs, wells and depths, from Shakespeare to ecocriticism
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Kerridge, R (2021) 'All is deep: all is shallow - literary springs, wells and depths, from Shakespeare to ecocriticism.' In: Chiari, S and Cuisinier-Delorme, S, eds. Spa culture and literature in England, 1500-1800. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 263-283. ISBN 9783030665678

Plath and nature
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Kerridge, R (2019) 'Plath and nature.' In: Brain, T, ed. Sylvia Plath in context. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 221-232. ISBN 9781108470131

Environmentalism and creative writing
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Kerridge, R (2018) 'Environmentalism and creative writing.' In: Castree, N, Hulme, M and Proctor, J.D, eds. Companion to environmental studies. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 379-382. ISBN 9781138192201

Foreword
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Kerridge, R (2016) 'Foreword.' In: Oppermann, S and Iovino, S, eds. Environmental humanities: voices from the Anthropocene. Rowman & Littlefield International, London. ISBN 9781783489381

Ecocritical readings
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Kerridge, R (2014) 'Ecocritical readings.' In: Gifford, T, ed. Ted Hughes. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, pp. 176-190. ISBN 9781137301116

Ecocritical approaches to literary form and genre: urgency, depth, provisionality, temporality
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Kerridge, R (2014) 'Ecocritical approaches to literary form and genre: urgency, depth, provisionality, temporality.' In: Garrard, G, ed. The Oxford handbook of ecocriticism. Oxford handbooks . Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 361-376. ISBN 9780199742929

Contemporary Ecocriticism between Red and Green
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Kerridge, R (2012) 'Contemporary Ecocriticism between Red and Green.' In: Rignall, J, Klaus, H and Cunningham, V, eds. Ecology and the Literature of the British Left: The red and the green. Ashgate, Farnham. ISBN 9781409418221

Ecocriticism and the Mission of 'English'
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Kerridge, R (2012) 'Ecocriticism and the Mission of 'English'.' In: Garrard, G, ed. Teaching Ecocriticism and Green Cultural Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke. ISBN 9780230235038

An ecocritic's Macbeth
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Kerridge, R (2011) 'An ecocritic's Macbeth.' In: Bruckner, L and Brayton, D, eds. Ecocritical Shakespeare. Ashgate, Farnham; Burlington, VT. ISBN 9780754669197

Environmental fiction and narrative openness
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Kerridge, R (2010) 'Environmental fiction and narrative openness.' In: Brace, C and Johns-Putra, A, eds. Process: landscape and text. Rodopi, Amsterdam, pp. 65-85. ISBN 9789042030756

Green pleasures
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Kerridge, R (2009) 'Green pleasures.' In: Soper, K, Ryle, M and Thomas, L, eds. The politics and pleasures of consuming differently. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke. ISBN 9780230537286

Climate Change and Contemporary Modernist Poetry
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Kerridge, R (2007) 'Climate Change and Contemporary Modernist Poetry.' In: Lopez, Tony and Caleshu, Anthony, eds. Poetry and Public Language. Shearsman Books, pp. 131-148. ISBN 978-1-905700-64-6

Environmentalism and Ecocriticism
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Kerridge, R (2006) 'Environmentalism and Ecocriticism.' In: Waugh, Patricia, ed. Literary Theory and Criticism: An Oxford Guide. Oxford University Press, pp. 530-543. ISBN 9780199258369

Narratives of Resignation: Environmentalism in Recent Fiction
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Kerridge, R (2002) 'Narratives of Resignation: Environmentalism in Recent Fiction.' In: Parham, J, ed. The Environmental Tradition in English Literature. Ashgate, pp. 87-99. ISBN 0-7546-0302-4

Too Damn Close': Thresholds and Their Maintenance in Rick Bass's Work
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Kerridge, R (2001) 'Too Damn Close': Thresholds and Their Maintenance in Rick Bass's Work.' In: Weltzien, Alan, ed. The Literary Art and Activism of Rick Bass. University of Utah Press, pp. 182-196. ISBN 0-87480-697-6

Nature writing for the welfare state
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Kerridge, R (2015) 'Nature writing for the welfare state.' Anglistik: International Journal of English Studies, 26 (1). pp. 35-43. ISSN 0947-0034

Ecocriticism
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Kerridge, R (2013) 'Ecocriticism.' The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory, 21 (1). pp. 345-374. ISSN 1077-4254

Ecocritical Theory: New European Approaches Environmental Criticism for the Twenty-First Century
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Kerridge, R (2012) 'Ecocritical Theory: New European Approaches Environmental Criticism for the Twenty-First Century.' Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, 19 (3). pp. 595-598. ISSN 1076-0962

The season of the newts
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Kerridge, R (2011) 'The season of the newts.' Poetry Review, 101 (4). ISSN 0032 2156

Our Adder
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Kerridge, R (2011) 'Our Adder.' Granta. ISSN 0017-3231

Inaugural Green Voices Research Group guest lecture
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Kerridge, R (2014) Inaugural Green Voices Research Group guest lecture. In: University of Worcester, Institute of Humanities & Creative Arts Inaugural Annual Event and Launch of the Green Voices Research Group, 3 June 2014, Worcester Cathedral, Worcester, UK.

Inspire lecture on literature and sustainability
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Kerridge, R (2014) Inspire lecture on literature and sustainability. In: Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts, 22 May - 1 June 2014, Hay-on-Wye, Wales.

Poetry place and planet
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Kerridge, R (2007) Poetry place and planet. In: Understanding landscapes through creative auto-ethnographies, University of Exeter, UK.

Ecocriticism, romanticism, consumerism
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Kerridge, R (2006) Ecocriticism, romanticism, consumerism. In: Countering Consumerism: Religious and Secular Responses, 20-22 April 2006, London Metropolitan University.