Sarah Olive

Sarah Olive is a Senior Lecturer in English Literature at Aston University within the College of Business and Social Sciences and the Communication and Culture department. She holds an Honorary Senior Research Fellowship at Bangor University’s School of Education and served as Megumi Visiting Professor at Kobe College, Japan, in 2022–23.

Education

• PhD in English, Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham (2011)
• M.Phil in Educational Research, University of Cambridge (2005)
• B.A. (1st Class) in English, University of Adelaide (2003)
• Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, University of York (2013)

Research Interests
Sarah explores intersections of literature and education, with a focus on young adult (YA) literature, Shakespeare studies, and curriculum diversification. Her work addresses gender and ethnic diversity in literature education, Shakespeare adaptations, and the role of visual culture (e.g., picturebooks, comics, film) in pedagogy. She investigates YA Gothic fiction, Shakespeare’s global reception, and educational strategies for inclusivity.

Editorial & Leadership Roles
She serves as Lead Editor for the journal Jeunesse: Young People, Texts, Cultures (University of Toronto Press) and founded the journal Teaching Shakespeare. Leadership roles include Director of Aston’s Research Centre for the Humanities (REACH) and research leadership at Bangor and York universities. She co-founded the Gothic Association of Asia and organized its inaugural symposium in Taiwan (2022).

Supervision & Dissemination
She supervises PhD projects on children’s/YA literature, Shakespeare adaptations, and literature pedagogy. Her supervisees include scholars on topics like Shakespeare for human rights, prison rehabilitation through Shakespeare, and multilingual education. She disseminates research via freely accessible resources (e.g., Welsh Government’s Hwb) and online courses like the Pictures of Youth MOOC, which attracted 15,000 participants.