About me
I am a professor of English and Irish literature at the University of Leuven, Belgium. After studies at the University of Leuven and the University of British Columbia, I obtained my doctor’s degree in 2001 with a dissertation on the work of John Banville. Since then I have worked on modern British and Irish fiction, women’s writing, narrative theory and gender studies. I was a visiting scholar at the Institute of English Studies, University of London in 2006-2007, at Boston University in the spring term of 2008 and at Boston College in July 2019. I have also been a visiting professor at the Université de Angers (autumn 2015) and the Université de Montpellier (autumn 2019).
At KU Leuven, I am director of the Leuven Centre for Irish Studies as well director of the Centre for Literature and Education. I am also a senior member of the research centre, MDRN. I am vice-president of EFACIS (the European Federation of Associations and Centres for Irish Studies) and communications coordinator for ENSFR (the European Network of Short Fiction Research). I am an editor of CLW. Cahier voor literatuurwetenschappen, Rise. Review of Irish studies in Europe and Interférences Littéraires.
I am the author of critical study on John Banville (Visions of Alterity, Rodopi 2004) and editor of Mary Lavin (IAP, 2013). I have also co-edited essay collections on narrative unreliability (DeGruyter, 2008), Irish women writers (Peter Lang, 2011), the Irish short story (2015). The monograph, Irish Women Writers and the Modern Short Story was published by Palgrave (2016). Most recent publications are The Modern Short Story and Magazine Culture, co-edited with Chris Mourant (EUP, 2021) and Ethel Colburn Mayne: Selected Stories (EER, 2021). My textbook for teachers of literature came out in Dutch in 2022: Leerlingen en Literatuur. Hoe Vaardige Lezers Vormen (Lannoo, 2022). Most recently, I have edited The Writer's Torch. Reading Stories from The Bell, together with Phyllis Boumans and Declan Meade (The Stinging Fly, 2023). My articles have been published in a variety of peer-reviewed academic journals as well as in several edited collections.
At KU Leuven I I teach courses on feminist theory and gender studies; the short story; literature and education; Irish literature, and short forms on 3rd year BA, MA and advanced MA level. I have successfully supervised 7 PhDs and have 4 ongoing projects. I also supervise two post-doctoral scholars.
At KU Leuven, I am director of the Leuven Centre for Irish Studies as well director of the Centre for Literature and Education. I am also a senior member of the research centre, MDRN. I am vice-president of EFACIS (the European Federation of Associations and Centres for Irish Studies) and communications coordinator for ENSFR (the European Network of Short Fiction Research). I am an editor of CLW. Cahier voor literatuurwetenschappen, Rise. Review of Irish studies in Europe and Interférences Littéraires.
I am the author of critical study on John Banville (Visions of Alterity, Rodopi 2004) and editor of Mary Lavin (IAP, 2013). I have also co-edited essay collections on narrative unreliability (DeGruyter, 2008), Irish women writers (Peter Lang, 2011), the Irish short story (2015). The monograph, Irish Women Writers and the Modern Short Story was published by Palgrave (2016). Most recent publications are The Modern Short Story and Magazine Culture, co-edited with Chris Mourant (EUP, 2021) and Ethel Colburn Mayne: Selected Stories (EER, 2021). My textbook for teachers of literature came out in Dutch in 2022: Leerlingen en Literatuur. Hoe Vaardige Lezers Vormen (Lannoo, 2022). Most recently, I have edited The Writer's Torch. Reading Stories from The Bell, together with Phyllis Boumans and Declan Meade (The Stinging Fly, 2023). My articles have been published in a variety of peer-reviewed academic journals as well as in several edited collections.
At KU Leuven I I teach courses on feminist theory and gender studies; the short story; literature and education; Irish literature, and short forms on 3rd year BA, MA and advanced MA level. I have successfully supervised 7 PhDs and have 4 ongoing projects. I also supervise two post-doctoral scholars.