Dr Jenny Bavidge

Dr Jenny Bavidge
Academic Director, University Senior Lecturer in English Literature, University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education (PACE)

Biography

I’m the Academic Director for English Literature at PACE and I teach across all our literature courses, both online and in-person. I started my teaching career at the University of Greenwich after completing my BA in English at the University of Oxford and a PhD at Royal Holloway, University of London. I joined PACE in 2011 and became a Fellow of Murray Edwards College in 2012.

My particular interests lie in contemporary fiction, literary theory and ecocriticism, children's literature and thinking about how literature reflects and shapes urban life. In 2016, I was elected a Fellow of the English Association and now sit on their Fellowship Committee. That’s a part of my work I really enjoy, because the English Association is committed to supporting and advocating for English as a subject in schools, universities and wider cultural life. I really believe in the value of reading and writing for everyone, no matter what stage of life you're at or what brought you back to study. Contact with great ideas, moving stories, knotty problems, humour, tragedy - all the things we find in poetry, drama and novels, sharpens your thinking and enriches everyday life.

What I love most about teaching at PACE is the passion and commitment of my students. Our learners are often returning to study after time away or are exploring new directions and are following a long-standing love of literature. Their varied interests and life experiences make for rich, open, and exciting discussions.

Research topics

My research focuses on contemporary literature, eco-criticism and children's literature. I’m particularly interested in how literary texts engage with questions of place, the environment, and the rhythms of the modern city. I've also explored the representation of childhood in city literature and cities in children's literature. I was President of the Literary London Society from 2011-15 and have also served on the committees of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE UKI) and the British Association for Contemporary Literary Studies (BACLS). In 2013, I was awarded the University's Pilkington Prize for Teaching.

Publications

Book chapters

  • ‘Swerves and Seers: Children and Childhood in the work of Ali Smith' in Ali Smith: Critical Essays eds. Eleanor Byrne and Alex J. Calder (Routledge, 2025), 2025
  • 'The City and the Country' in The Cambridge History of Children’s Literature in English, eds. E. Giddens, J. Jaques, L. Joy (Cambridge University Press, 2025), 2025

Courses Taught