Prof Matthew Jarvis

BA (York), MA (York), PhD (Wales)

Prof Matthew Jarvis

Senior Lecturer in Literature and Place

Department of English & Creative Writing

Assistant Faculty Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research)

Contact Details

Profile

My scholarly work is mainly concerned with Wales Studies, with a primary focus on post-1960s Welsh poetry in English. Within this context, I am particularly interested in environmental approaches to literature and in ideas about the poetic construction of space and place.

I am co-Chair of the Association for Welsh Writing in English and lead editor of the International Journal of Welsh Writing in English. I am Chair of the Poetry Wales Committee. I serve on the Advisory Body of the National Library of Wales, the Advisory Board of Modernist Network Cymru, the Editorial Board of the journal Literary Geographies, and was formerly a member of the English-Language Grants Panel of the Welsh Books Council.

I have produced research on the sector-wide health of Wales Studies for the Learned Society of Wales, and am a former winner of the M. Wynn Thomas Prize.

Additional Information

I am a Research Associate of Swansea University's Centre for Research into the English Literature and Language of Wales, an Associate Member of Aberystwyth University’s David Jones Centre, and a full member of the Welsh Academy.

At Aberystwyth, I have previously worked as part of the research team on the Leverhulme Trust-funded project Devolved Voices: Welsh Poetry in English since 1997, led by Professor Peter Barry.

Since September 2007, I have also been Anthony Dyson Fellow in Poetry at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

Teaching

Module Coordinator
Lecturer
Attendance Dept Admin
Blackboard Dept Admin
Coordinator
Moderator

My teaching interests lie in the areas of twentieth-century and contemporary literatures, Welsh writing in English, and literary theory.

Research

I have written the monographs Welsh Environments in Contemporary Poetry (University of Wales Press, 2008) and Ruth Bidgood (University of Wales Press, 2012). I have also written a pamphlet, over two dozen essays/articles, and fifty reviews (mainly of contemporary poetry).

Recently, I have concentrated on editorial work: I have edited the volumes Devolutionary Readings: English-Language Poetry and Contemporary Wales (Peter Lang, 2017) and Wired to the Dynamo: Poetry and Prose in Honour of John Barnie (Cinnamon, 2018); I have co-edited special issues of two academic journals (published in 2014 and 2015); and, since March 2014, I have led the editorial team of the International Journal of Welsh Writing in English (University of Wales Press).

For full details of my scholarly publications, reviews, speaking engagements, and current projects, please see my personal website.

Responsibilities

I am Year 1 tutor (2018-19 academic year), and also serve on the Research Environment Group committee in the Department.

Office Hours (Student Contact Times)

  • Wednesday 10:00-11:00

Publications

Jarvis, M 2025, A vibrant world? Approaching the nonhuman in John Freeman’s What Possessed Me. in G Goodwin (ed.), The Radiant Ordinary: A Celebration of John Freeman. Broken Sleep Books.
Jarvis, M 2020, The Mallarmé Poems: Being Thirteen Free Improvisations on Lines from Mallarmé. Cinnamon Press, Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Jarvis, M 2019, In and Out of the Nation: Poetry Wales in the 1960s and 1970s. in K McLoughlin (ed.), British Literature in Transition, 1960-1980: Flower Power. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 232-246.
Jarvis, M 2017, Devolutionary Complexities: Reading Three New Poets. in Devolutionary Readings: English-Language Poetry and Contemporary Wales. Modern Poetry, vol. 10, Peter Lang, Oxford, pp. 89-114.
Jarvis, M (ed.) 2017, Devolutionary Readings: English-Language Poetry and Contemporary Wales. Modern Poetry, vol. 10, Peter Lang, Oxford. 10.3726/b13147
More publications on the Research Portal