Doctoral student Anna Mercer wins Stephen Copley Award

Posted on 11 June 2015

Congratulations to Department of English doctoral candidate, Anna Mercer, who has been awarded a Stephen Copley Postgraduate Research Award.

This is a highly competitive annual bursary scheme run by the British Association for Romantic Studies (BARS) in order to support postgraduate research in the UK or aboard.

Anna writes: 'In October/November 2015 I will be travelling to the USA to study specific manuscripts at three libraries: The Library of Congress, Washington DC, and the New York Public Library (NYPL) and the Morgan Library in New York City. My PhD study includes work on the manuscripts of Percy and Mary Shelley, specifically instances in which Mary Shelley influences Percy Shelley’s writing in draft. I have identified particular sources in the USA that will provide potential examples of this in manuscript evidence not previously studied for the purposes of understanding the Shelleys' collaboration. For example, in the Library of Congress there is a notebook used by both Shelleys from 1814-1818 that is not available in any other format (online or facsimile). Informed by my previous critical and analytical study of Shelley texts, I will apply my rethinking of their collaborative working style directly to these original manuscripts. As well as receiving the BARS Stephen Copley Postgraduate Research Award I have also been awarded money from the University of York's AHRC-funded Research Training Support Grant. I am very grateful for the funding awarded to me to allow me to carry out this research.'

Please see British Association for Romantic Studies website for more information about their bursaries.