معرفی
Cynthia Sugars is a Professor in the English Department within the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ottawa, where she has established herself as a leading scholar in Canadian literary studies. Her academic profile demonstrates extensive contributions to the fields of Canadian literature, Gothic studies, and postcolonial theory through both research and editorial work.
Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in English from McGill University (1998), and both M.A. and B.A. (Honours) degrees in English from the University of British Columbia (1988 and 1986 respectively). This strong foundation has informed her distinctive approach to Canadian literary scholarship.
Sugars' research focuses on cultural identity, subjectivity, and narrative in Canadian contexts, with particular emphasis on theories of memory and haunting as they relate to communal identity. Her work explores Gothic literature in Canada, the disciplinary history of Canadian literature within English studies, Atlantic Canadian fiction, and the intersection of science and literature. She has edited significant collections including Canadian Literature and Cultural Memory (Oxford UP), Unsettled Remains: Canadian Literature and the Postcolonial Gothic (Wilfrid Laurier UP), and The Oxford Handbook of Canadian Literature (Oxford UP, 2015). Her monograph Canadian Gothic: Literature, History, and the Spectre of Self-Invention (Wales UP) represents a major contribution to the field.
Analysis of her recent publications reveals a consistent focus on Canadian literary identity formation, with increasing attention to postcolonial perspectives, Indigenous literatures, and the Gothic tradition. Her work frequently examines how historical narratives shape contemporary Canadian identity, with recurring themes of memory, haunting, and national mythology across different literary periods and genres.
Currently, Sugars supervises graduate students including Evan W.L. Buck (expected completion August 2025) and Kendra Guidolin. She holds an SSHRC Insight Grant for research exploring changing ideas of authors and authorship in pre-twentieth century Canada. As editor of Studies in Canadian Literature, she maintains significant influence in the field. Her teaching includes specialized courses such as Canadian Literature and the Postcolonial Gothic, Gone Settler: Canadian Fiction and Colonial Nostalgia, and Contemporary Canadian Drama. Sugars also brings practical theatrical experience to her academic work, having directed her own theatre company in Ottawa.
