Finn Fordham

Finn Fordham is a Professor in the Department of English at Royal Holloway, University of London, specializing in 20th and 21st Century literature and theory. His research focuses on James Joyce, Modernism, genetic criticism, and avant-garde studies. He holds a first-class degree from Trinity College, Cambridge, and a doctoral thesis from Birkbeck College. Previously a lecturer at Nottingham and a research fellow with the Leverhulme Trust, he became a Professor in 2015.

• Education: BA (Trinity College, Cambridge), PhD (Birkbeck College)
• Leverhulme Trust Fellow (2003–2008)
• Major Works: Editor of Finnegans Wake (Oxford World Classics, 2012), ongoing Oulipean study of September 3, 1939

Research interests include Joyce’s Finnegans Wake, textual genetics, and cultural archives. He has presented globally at institutions like Oxford, Cambridge, and Beijing. Current projects explore WWII’s impact on cultural production and Joyce’s intersections with China and music. Active in public engagement, he participated in Burning Man (2018) and curated exhibitions like James Joyce and Illustration (Ashmolean Museum).

Grants & Projects:

• British Academy-funded research on WWII’s cultural suspension (2015–2021)
• Co-Investigator on Finnegans Wake: A Critical Edition (2012–2016)

Affiliated with the Finnegans Wake Research Group and contributes to UN SDGs related to cultural preservation and education.