Staff profile

I am a PhD candidate in English Literature, working on coming-of-age fiction, ecocriticism, and queer studies under the supervision of Prof Barry Sheils and Dr Joshua Pugh. My research is funded by the AHRC through the Northern Bridge Consortium.

I lead tutorials on the undergraduate module Introduction to the Novel, and I am a Fellow of the Foundation Programme. I also co-convene the Centre for Culture and Ecology Reading Group.

Current Research

My doctoral project focuses on the queering effects of eco-melancholia in post-45 and contemporary American coming-of-age literature. I am particularly interested in literary representations of lives shaped by the interrelated forces of heteronormative oppression and resource exploitation. My dissertation examines depictions of youthful rebellion and human growth in contexts where the environment has become a site of irretrievable loss and expenditure. I explore how grief might help us imagine alternatives to conventional narratives of growth and adulthood. By drawing together strands of queer theory and the environmental humanities that emphasise the melancholic refusal to accept ecological degradation, my project reconceptualises coming-of-age literature in relation to political resistance and adolescent mental health.

About Me

Originally from Bologna, I earned my BA and MA (both cum laude) in Classics and English from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. During my MA, I spent nine months as a visiting research student at Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris. I then decided to prolong my stay in Paris and completed an MRes (with distinction) in Critical Theory and American Literature at the same institution. I have also attended Harvard Summer School and the Summer Institute of Psychoanalysis and Politics (Northwestern/Sorbonne Nouvelle Universities).

My Venetian dissertations explored J.D. Salinger’s use of classical imagery and the representation of natural spaces in American and European literature, while my MRes dissertation focused on the evolution of the coming-of-age genre in American literature.

Prior to my doctoral studies, I worked as a researcher in publishing and taught seminars in English literature, critical theory, and cinema at the Sorbonne. I also have experience teaching secondary school pupils. Additionally, I produced a radio programme on J.D. Salinger and a podcast about queer literature.

I welcome any enquiries about my research, teaching, or the CCE Reading Group.