Prof Melanie Williams

Prof Melanie Williams

Lecturer in Law

Department of Law & Criminology

Contact Details

https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8225-2681

 

Professor Williams read Law at the University of Cambridge and a Masters in English Literature at the University of Sussex.  She has been Consultant to the Open University and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and former editorial board member of the International Journal of Law in Context (Cambridge University Press) Law, Culture and Humanities (Sage) and Jurisprudence (Hart).

‘I became a Lecturer in the Department of Law in Aberystwyth in 1995; after nearly ten years I worked as Reader then Professor, first at Swansea University Law School and then at Exeter University School of Law, returning to Wales in 2015.  I have taught many subjects in Law and in Criminology and have also enjoyed teaching in other settings, for example as a Visiting Lecturer in English and Media Studies and also in Philosophy, teaching legal perspectives, I have also taught Medical Ethics and Law to medical students as well as law students.  Over the years I have published two books - Empty Justice (2001) and Secrets and Laws (2005) and a number of book chapters and articles. These mostly focus upon links between law, literature and philosophy but also consider aspects of psychological or medical significance.  I recently qualified as a psychotherapist’.

(portrait image by Sorcha Williams)

see list at ORCiD : https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8225-2681

 

BOOKS

Williams, M.L., (2005) Monograph: Secrets and Laws Collected Essays, London: UCL Press 2005) – Essays present recent research scholarship as a commentary upon prior legal developments in several fields; includes some ‘reworked’ articles previously published

Williams, M.L.,(2002) Monograph Empty Justice- One Hundred Years of Law, Literature and Philosophy (2002) Cavendish Publishing (Part funded by AHRB Research Leave Award):

 

 

 

Body of Rebellion: Patriarchal Law, Gender Violence and The Vegetarian. / Williams, Melanie L.
In: Liverpool Law Review, 20.02.2026.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Justice Signified: Naming Injustice in the Therapeutic Space. / Williams, Melanie L.
In: British Journal of Psychotherapy, 04.08.2025.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

The Lawlessness of Loss: Poetry and Autoethnographic Writing as Therapy in Grief and Loss. / Williams, Melanie L.
In: OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying, 13.06.2024.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Coercive and controlling behaviour: Literary, psychological and legal interpretation and The Man Who Loved Children. / Williams, Melanie L.
In: Australian Journal of Family Law, Vol. 36, No. 2, 14.12.2023, p. 173-194.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Law and Literature/Literary Jurisprudence. / Williams, Melanie L.
Great Debates in Gender and Law, London England : Macmillan International Higher Education. ed. / Rosemary Auchmuty. Bloomsbury, 2018. p. 185-197 (Great Debates in Law).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

More publications on the Research Portal