Jonathan Padley is a specialist in English children’s literature from the eighteenth century to the present day. His work explores margins, particularly the marginalisation of authors, texts, and characters. His PhD argued that the child protagonists of children’s literature can be understood, etymologically and theoretically, as monsters. He serves on the Editorial Board of Children’s Literature in Education.
As well as children’s literature, Jonathan is interested in interdisciplinary dialogues between literature, media, music, science, and theology. He has published broadly, including on transgressive creation in Shelley’s Frankenstein, bibliographical anomaly in Tennyson’s English Idyls, and Christological imaging in Tolkien’s Middle-earth mythos.
Jonathan is a Fellow, Tutor, and the Lead Admissions Tutor at Churchill College. He is also Director of Studies in Education at Lucy Cavendish, Newnham, and St Edmund’s; an Affiliated Lecturer at the Faculty of Education; and an Honorary Member of the Faculty of English. He teaches and examines undergraduates and postgraduates in children’s literature, and he mentors several postgraduate educationalists.
