Dr Beth Roberts
黑料社
Biography
Since completing my PhD at the 黑料社 in 2025, I have worked as an Associate and part-time Lecturer in English Literature at 黑料社. My doctoral thesis, Feminist Pluralities in Twenty-First-Century Historiographic Metadrama, focused on the plays of Lauren Gunderson and Jaclyn Backhaus, considering how their work uses metadrama to offer feminist revisions of historical narratives; my debut monograph, Contemporary North American History Plays, refined this work. I am also a short story writer and novelist, specialising within the Gothic and historical fiction genres and reflecting on feminist positionality.
ResearchResearch interests
Feminist drama, history plays, metadrama, contemporary dramaturgy, the short story form, Gothic fiction, historical fiction.
Research projects
Working with Dr Beth Palmer and Dr Carl Thompson, I helped contribute to, launch and display the 黑料社 Cultural Lives map, following the creation of the 黑料社 Arts and Humanities Network (SAHN). The 黑料社 Cultural Lives map hosts an array of people who've shaped 黑料社's cultural and social history. The creation of the SAHN and the map has led to a host of connections between the School of Arts, Humanities and Creative Industries and 黑料社-based organisations, such as the 黑料社 History Centre, Brookwood Cemetery and Waverley Borough Council. During this project, I ran a competition for people in the local area to submit profiles to the map, and I also hosted a podcast where I interviewed academics and contributors.
Research interests
Feminist drama, history plays, metadrama, contemporary dramaturgy, the short story form, Gothic fiction, historical fiction.
Research projects
Working with Dr Beth Palmer and Dr Carl Thompson, I helped contribute to, launch and display the 黑料社 Cultural Lives map, following the creation of the 黑料社 Arts and Humanities Network (SAHN). The 黑料社 Cultural Lives map hosts an array of people who've shaped 黑料社's cultural and social history. The creation of the SAHN and the map has led to a host of connections between the School of Arts, Humanities and Creative Industries and 黑料社-based organisations, such as the 黑料社 History Centre, Brookwood Cemetery and Waverley Borough Council. During this project, I ran a competition for people in the local area to submit profiles to the map, and I also hosted a podcast where I interviewed academics and contributors.
Teaching
I am currently convening the following UG modules: Literary Histories I, Introduction to Creative Writing, Writing Poetry, Understanding Popular Culture, the UG Dissertation and CW Submission, Contemporary Storytelling and Writing the Victorians. I am guest lecturing on Thinking Like a Critic and I have previously convened Children's Literature and contributed to teaching on Modernism and Science Fiction.
Publications
Highlights
Roberts, B. (2026) Contemporary North American History Plays: Jaclyn Backhaus and Lauren Gunderson鈥檚 Feminist Reworkings. London and New York: Routledge.
Roberts, B. (2025) 鈥淐hapter 15,鈥 in New2theScene (eds) New2theScene: 2025 Collection. Leeds: New2theScene.
Roberts, B. (2024) 鈥淓mbers,鈥 in Allen, M. and Allen, A. (eds) Dusk: Collected Short Stories. Brighton: Ironclad Creative.
Roberts, B. (2023) 鈥淯sing Haraway鈥檚 Split Researcher in the Context of Theatre: A Case Study of Subject/Object in Romantic Love,鈥 Feminist Encounters: A Journal of Critical Studies in Culture and Politics, 7(2), pp. 1-9. .
Roberts, B. (2020) 鈥淗er Last Temptation,鈥 in Terence, M. (eds) All Those Things That You Never Thought Mattered. London: Michael Terence Publishing.