George Orwell

Orwell is a huge source of interest to me. I’ve published on his life and work, and at Birmingham I regularly convene or co-convene a final-year undergraduate module called ‘Orwell’s Books’, which takes students through the full sweep of his core book-length publications. I’m making very small steps towards writing a book about Orwell and the emotions—with the exact shape and scope of this yet to be determined—and I also hope at some point to write a book about Nineteen Eighty-Four. More immediate things I have on the go are:

A Bright Cold Day: The Wonder of George Orwell
This is my first trade book, taking a creative-critical approach to Orwell’s life and work. It’s under contract with Oneworld Publications and is due to appear in June 2025.

Reading Orwell
An ongoing project (featuring chapter-by-chapter and topic-led descriptive commentaries on Orwell’s novels & non-fiction) aimed at school students & university undergraduates.

George Orwell Studies
I joined the editorial board of George Orwell Studies in 2022. George Orwell Studies is a biannual, peer-reviewed academic journal, and the leading resource for cutting-edge Orwell scholarship.

Orwelliana
This page lists various online Orwell-focused resources, most of them freely available, that I’ve gathered mainly to support students at Birmingham who pursue the ‘Orwell’s Books’ module (see above)—and also, maybe, for general interest.