Sophie Ratcliffe

Professor Sophie Ratcliffe holds the title of Professor of Literature and Creative Criticism at the University of Oxford's Faculty of English Language & Literature. She is affiliated with Lady Margaret Hall and specializes in interdisciplinary research spanning Victorian studies, medical humanities, and creative non-fiction. Her work explores emotion's historical and literary dimensions, readership practices, and the intersection of literature with medicine and embodiment.

Her research interests include the materiality of books, the aesthetic encounter, and gender studies. Notable projects include the Unsilencing the Library exhibition (2017), which won a Vice Chancellor's Award for Public Engagement, and her creative non-fiction work The Lost Properties of Love (2019). Current research focuses on The Child in the Library, merging themes of childhood, literature, and presence.

Ratcliffe leads medical humanities seminars for healthcare professionals and has published widely on topics ranging from Victorian emotion to modernist aesthetics. Her scholarship includes monographs on sympathy in literature, contributions to TLS, and edited volumes on figures like Samuel Beckett and P.G. Wodehouse.

Her awards include judging the Wellcome Book Prize (2018) and her work has been featured in national press reviews. She actively bridges academic and public engagement through exhibitions, literary projects, and interdisciplinary collaborations.