English lecturer publishes new book on poet and novelist William Morris

​Phillippa Bennett, Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Northampton has just published a new book on the last romances of William Morris, the 19th Century artist, writer and socialist.

William Morris’s last romances are strikingly original stories written in his final years and this book provides a full-length critical account of these works and their essential role in promoting the continuing importance of his ideas.

Approaching these romances through the concept of wonder, this book provides a new way of understanding their relevance to his writings on art and architecture, nature and the environment, and politics and socialism. It establishes the integral connection between the romances and Morris’s diverse cultural, social and political interests and activities, suggesting ways in which we might understand these tales as a culmination of Morris’s thought and practice. Through a comprehensive analysis of these remarkable narratives, this book makes a significant contribution to both work on William Morris and to 19th Century studies more generally.

Phillippa is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the Journal of William Morris Studies and has served as both Secretary and Vice President of the William Morris Society in the UK. She co-edited William Morris in the 21stCentury (Peter Lang, 2010) and has published a number of book chapters and articles on Morris’s last romances and their relationship to his aesthetic and political ideals.

Find out more about the book.