Hannah Elizabeth Roche

Hannah Roche is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English and Related Literature at the University of York, where she joined as Lecturer in Twentieth-Century Literature and Culture in January 2018 after completing her AHRC-funded PhD at the University of Leeds. Her academic trajectory includes an AHRC International Placement Scheme Fellowship at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin in 2014.

Educational background:

• PhD in English, University of Leeds (completed November 2016, AHRC-funded)
• AHRC International Placement Scheme Fellowship, Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin (2014)

Her research centers on queer literature and cultural history with emphases on early twentieth-century lesbian writing, transatlantic modernism, and the politics of genre. She investigates lesbian lives and writing practices, modernist engagements with Victorian fiction, and the legacy of lesbian modernism in contemporary queer culture. Her acclaimed monograph The Outside Thing: Modernist Lesbian Romance (Columbia University Press, 2019) analyzes romance tropes in works by Gertrude Stein, Radclyffe Hall, and Djuna Barnes through extensive archival research.

Recent publications reveal evolving trajectories toward coercive control in literary-legal contexts and lesbian homemaking history, blending historical analysis with urgent contemporary issues like gender-based violence and LGBTQ+ rights. Her work spans literary criticism, cultural studies, and public scholarship with increasing interdisciplinary reach.

Scientific awards include:

• Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2019
• University English Book Prize 2020 Honourable Mention

Roche actively supervises doctoral research and secures significant funding as Principal Investigator for AHRC projects including Coercive Control: From Literature into Law (2023-2025) and 100 Years of The Well of Loneliness (2025-2029). She co-edits scholarly volumes and delivers public lectures for International Women’s Day, LGBTQ+ History Month, and Pride events.

She maintains robust international collaborations, notably with Professor Jana Funke (University of Exeter) on Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness Oxford World’s Classics edition and Professor Katherine Mullin (University of Leeds) on coercive control narratives. Her research extends to mainstream media through The Guardian features and BBC Radio Four appearances.