Caroline Edwards

Dr. Caroline Edwards is a Senior Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Birkbeck, University of London, and Executive Director of the Open Library of Humanities (OLH), a gold open-access publisher co-founded with Prof. Martin Eve in 2013. She holds a PhD from the University of Nottingham (2010), an MA from the University of Warwick (2005), and a BA (Hons) in English Literature from the same institution (2004). Her research focuses on science fiction, utopianism, Marxist aesthetics, and ecocriticism, with an emphasis on speculative futures, anti-humanist thought, and postcolonial reimaginings of utopia.

• Executive Director, Open Library of Humanities (since 2023)
• Director, Birkbeck’s Centre for Contemporary Literature
• Co-founder of Alluvium Journal (2012) and BACLS (British Association for Contemporary Literary Studies)

Her recent work includes projects on elemental aesthetics, Black utopias, and automation’s impact on labor. She has secured major grants, including a £741,000 Mellon Foundation award for OLH. Edwards is a frequent speaker at international conferences and has curated exhibitions like the Museum of London’s 'Imagined Futures' (2017–2018). She supervises PhD students in 21st-century literature and critical theory, teaching modules on science fiction, contemporary literature, and Marxist aesthetics.

Professional memberships include MLA, Utopian Studies Society, and ASAP. Notable publications span peer-reviewed articles, edited collections (e.g., China Miéville: Critical Essays), and public-facing work in BBC Radio documentaries. Current projects explore coastal dystopias and the intersection of literature with environmental crises.