Peter Boxall

Professor Peter Boxall is the Goldsmiths' Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford, affiliated with New College and the Faculty of English Language & Literature. His research explores the political role of literature in shaping modern realities, with a focus on modernism, postmodernism, and the novel's evolving form. He has authored influential works such as The Prosthetic Imagination (2020) and The Value of the Novel (2015), and is currently co-authoring books on Samuel Beckett and Giacomo Leopardi, as well as a monograph on geopolitical fictions of the 'West.'

His research interests span the interplay between literature and political structures, with recent projects addressing contemporary crises in cultural narratives and ecological geopolitics. Publications include journal articles analyzing narrative techniques and the evolving role of fiction in societal discourse.

Boxall’s work integrates historical analysis with contemporary theory, offering critical frameworks for understanding how literature constructs and challenges cultural realities. His forthcoming The Possibility of Literature (2024) synthesizes decades of scholarship on literary form and political imagination.