Staff profile

After a degree at Birmingham, and a D.Phil at Oxford, I took up a lectureship at Trinity College Dublin, where I worked for a decade. I moved to Duham in 2006. I was the Director of Reseach for the Department of English Studies from 2008 to 2014 and Deputy Head of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities from 2015 to 2018 with particular responsibility for all aspects of research. From 2020 to 2023 I was Head of Department.

Teaching and Research Interests:

James Joyce. I have edited The Cambridge Companion to James Joyce (third edition, 2025).

Virginia Woolf

Modernism

Edwardian Literature

Irish writing

Twentith Century English Writing, incl. Anthony Powell, Martin Amis

The History of English Studies

Literary publishing in the twentieth century.

I am finishing a book that focuses on ideas of domesticity in late-Victorian, Edwardian and modernist writing, c.1890 - 1940. A related article on Woolf, house museums and shoes is here. An article on Arnold Bennett's interest in home management is here. The project has received funding support from the British Academy.

I am also working on a project exploring Joyce's work in relation to religious conversion. A related article on T. S. Eliot's Harvard teaching notes can be found here. 

The writings of James Joyce have long been, and will continue to be, an important part of my research, with particular focus on national, religious and intellectual contexts of his work. A particular interest has been the reception of Joyce during his lifetime. James Joyce and the Act of Reception reads key scenes in Joyce's fiction both to show his responses to others' readings of his work as well as to address the cultural and textual conditions of reception in general and in Ireland specifically. Joyce's work is, I argue, a 'writing of reception'. I have edited James Joyce and the Nineteenth Century which examines Joyce's debt to, and re-working of, a series of nineteenth-century contexts with particular focus on Ireland, consumerism, and intellectual history. This book came from a Leverhulme-funded project (with John Strachan) on 'Advertising, Literature, and Consumer Culture in Ireland 1848 - 1921'. 

In 2019 I completed a project on 'non-translation' in literary modernism, supported by Durham's IAS, examining those snippets of 'other languages' included in many modernist texts. The resulting co-edited book was Modernism and Non-Translation.

PhD Research Students

I welcome enquiries from potential PhD students in any topic related to my fields of interest. I have supervised many PhDs to timely and successful completion, covering topics related to Joyce, Woolf, and modernist prose; Irish writing; and the disciplinary history of English. I am also an experienced examiner of PhDs.

• James Joyce
• Irish Literature and Culture
• Modernist Studies / twentieth-century literature
• Edwardian Literature and Culture
• Domesticity and Literature
• Anthony Powell

• Plenary Address. International James Joyce conference, Buffalo, 2008.

  Member of AHRC peer review college (2007 - ).

  : Plenary Address. International James Joyce conference, Buffalo, 2008.

  Member of AHRC peer review college (2007 - ).

Authored book

• James Joyce and the Act of Reception: Reading, Ireland, Modernism
  
  Nash, J. (2006). James Joyce and the Act of Reception: Reading, Ireland, Modernism. Cambridge University Press.

Chapter in book

• "There being more languages to start with than were absolutely necessary": James Joyce's Ulysses and English as a World Language
  
  Nash, J. (in press). "There being more languages to start with than were absolutely necessary": James Joyce’s Ulysses and English as a World Language. In J. Nash & J. (eds.) Harding (Eds.), Modernism and Non-Translation (pp. 171-191). Oxford University Press.
• Introduction: Joyce in the Nineteenth Century
  
  Nash, J. (2013). Introduction: Joyce in the Nineteenth Century. In J. (ed.) Nash (Ed.), James Joyce in the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge University Press.
• Liberalism and Domesticity in Ulysses
  
  Nash, J. (2013). Liberalism and Domesticity in Ulysses. In J. (ed.) Nash (Ed.), James Joyce in the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge University Press.
• Thomas McGreevy and 'The Catholic Element' in Joyce
  
  Nash, J. (2010). Thomas McGreevy and ’The Catholic Element’ in Joyce. In T. (ed.) Conley (Ed.), Joyce’s Disciples Disciplined: A Re-exagmination of the "Exagmination of Work in Progress" (pp. 71-79;160-161). UCD Press.
• Genre, Place and Value: Joyce's Reception, 1904-1941
  
  Nash, J. (2009). Genre, Place and Value: Joyce’s Reception, 1904-1941. In J. (ed.) McCourt (Ed.), James Joyce in Context (pp. 41-51). Cambridge University Press.
• "In the Heart of the Hibernian Metropolis"? Joyce's Reception in Ireland, 1900-1940
  
  Nash, J. (2008). "In the Heart of the Hibernian Metropolis"? Joyce’s Reception in Ireland, 1900-1940. In R. (ed.) Brown (Ed.), A Companion to James Joyce. (pp. 108-122). Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1111/b.9781405110440.2008.00009.x
• Irish Audiences and English Readers: The Cultural Politics of Shane Leslie's Ulysses Reviews
  
  Nash, J. (2006). Irish Audiences and English Readers: The Cultural Politics of Shane Leslie’s Ulysses Reviews. In A. Gibson & L. (eds.) Platt (Eds.), Joyce, Ireland, Britain. (pp. 139-152). University Press of Florida.
• 'Reading Joyce in English'.
  
  Nash, J. (2005). ’Reading Joyce in English’. In A. Fogarty & T. (eds.) Martin (Eds.), Joyce on the Threshold. (pp. 110-131). University Press of Florida.
• Introduction.
  
  Nash, J. (2002). Introduction. In J. (ed.) Nash (Ed.), Joyce’s Audiences. (pp. 3-9). Rodopi.
• ''A Constant Labour': Work in Progress and the Specialization of Reading'.
  
  Nash, J. (2002). ’’A Constant Labour’: Work in Progress and the Specialization of Reading’. In J. (ed.) Nash (Ed.), Joyce’s Audiences (pp. 127-41). Rodopi.
• 'Newspapers and Imperialism in Ulysses'.
  
  Nash, J. (2000). ’Newspapers and Imperialism in Ulysses’. In H. Booth & N. (eds.) Rigby (Eds.), Modernism and Empire. (pp. 175-97). Manchester University Press.
• 'That Comes at Night: The Information'.
  
  Nash, J. (2000). ’That Comes at Night: The Information’. In N. (ed.) Tredell (Ed.), The Fiction of Martin Amis: a reader’s guide to essential criticism. (pp. 163-72). Icon Books.
• 'Counterparts Before the Law: Mimicry and Exclusion'.
  
  Nash, J. (1998). ’Counterparts Before the Law: Mimicry and Exclusion’. In J. Brannigan, G. Ward, & J. (eds.) Wolfreys (Eds.), Re: Joyce: Text, Culture, Politics. (pp. 3-17). MacMillan.

Edited book

• Cambridge Companion to James Joyce (3rd edition)
  
  Nash, J. (Ed.). (2025). Cambridge Companion to James Joyce (3rd edition). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009636414
• Modernism and Non-Translation
  
  Harding, J., & Nash, J. (Eds.). (2019). Modernism and Non-Translation. Oxford University Press.
• James Joyce in the Nineteenth Century
  
  Nash, J. (Ed.). (2013). James Joyce in the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge University Press.
• Joyce's Audiences
  
  Nash, J. (Ed.). (2002). Joyce’s Audiences. Rodopi.

Journal Article

• T.S. Eliot's Views on James Joyce: The Harvard Teaching Notes
  
  Nash, J. (2019). T.S. Eliot’s Views on James Joyce: The Harvard Teaching Notes. James Joyce Quarterly., 56(1-2), 115-131. https://doi.org/10.1353/jjq.2019.0044
• Arnold Bennett and Home Management: Domestic Efficiency
  
  Nash, J. (2016). Arnold Bennett and Home Management: Domestic Efficiency. English Literature in Transition : 1880 - 1920., 59(2), 210-233.
• "Talk, talk, talk": Virginia Woolf's Responses to Ireland
  
  Nash, J. (2013). "Talk, talk, talk": Virginia Woolf’s Responses to Ireland. Irish Studies Review, 21(3), 255-273. https://doi.org/10.1080/09670882.2013.814424
• Exhibiting the Example: Virginia Woolf's Shoes
  
  Nash, J. (2013). Exhibiting the Example: Virginia Woolf’s Shoes. Twentieth-Century Literature, 59(2), 283-308. https://doi.org/10.1215/0041462x-2013-3001
• The Logic of Incest: Issy, Princes, and Professors
  
  Nash, J. (2002). The Logic of Incest: Issy, Princes, and Professors. James Joyce Quarterly., 39(3), 435-456.
• 'Deconstruction's Audiences: 'a new enlightenment for the century to come'?'.
  
  Nash, J. (2000). ’Deconstruction’s Audiences: ’a new enlightenment for the century to come’?’. Paragraph, 23(2), 119-35.
• 'The Date of Joyce's ALP Reading'.
  
  Nash, J. (1997). ’The Date of Joyce’s ALP Reading’. James Joyce Quarterly., 34(4).
• 'Fiction may be a Legal Paternity: Martin Amis's The Information'.
  
  Nash, J. (1996). ’Fiction may be a Legal Paternity: Martin Amis’s The Information’. English: Journal of the English Association, 45(183), 213-25.

Other (Print)

• 'James Joyce'.
  
  Nash, J. (2004). ’James Joyce’ (pp. 744-51). The Year’s Work in English Studies.
• 'James Joyce'.
  
  Nash, J. (2003). ’James Joyce’ (pp. 667-74). The Year’s Work in English Studies.
• 'James Joyce'.
  
  Nash, J. (2002). ’James Joyce’ (pp. 808-14). The Year’s Work in English Studies.