Dear blog,

So, it’s been busy of late. We’ve been working with candidates for the Leverhulme Early Career Fellowships, which we haven’t been allowed to apply for before here at Lancaster. It is great news that we now can though of course it’s highly competitive. Applications came in early January and we’ve been through two sets of revisions so far. They are both great applications and I really would love it for one (or both!) to get funded. How brilliant would that be for all concerned.

In other news, I gave a research seminar paper at Exeter this week. There was an excellent — if quite scary — audience. I talked about the idea of transformation and Davy’s poetry. I’ve been thinking about this for a while and the essay I’m hoping to work on again this week and next (it’s reading week!) on literature and chemistry explores ideas of how chemical processes might be useful ways of thinking about the literary. The questions were stimulating and wide-ranging. I’m not sure that I answered them all very well but they certainly made me think. I’d really like my next book to be something on Romantic Transformations. It may be a while before I get there though!

We had our first ever Medical Humanities Research Group meeting today. There were four excellent ten minute talks from postdocs and colleagues in the department. There were lots of synergies and points of connection. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon and we’ve decided to meet once a term and use the time as we feel we want to, whether discussing an essay someone is writing, giving a short paper, that kind of thing.

I’ve just put a new letter into the Davy Letters database too. Prof Frank James found it in the National Archives. It’s from Davy to John Barrow at the Board of Admiralty. It’s great to enter another letter though there are some issues with a name and a word that I’m not sure of. My co-editor will be along soon and perhaps he can help.

More soon,

Sharon