Skip to main content
Josie Billington

Professor Josie Billington
BA (Hons.), PGCE, MA, PhD

Professor
English
Part of
School of the Arts
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Contact

Jbilling@liverpool.ac.uk

+44 (0)151 794 2734

Professional Activities

In addition to extensive peer-review roles (including AHRC, NIHR, BMJ Journals and MLR), examining, and membership of professional bodies (AHRC Peer Review College, Higher Education Academy, Royal Society of Medicine) my external partnerships and outreach activities range across: reading charities (The Reader, Quick Reads, The Reading Agency); health services and practitioners (Mersey Care NHS Mental Health Trust, Royal Liverpool NHS Hospital Trust, National Personality Disorder Team); teachers, schools and children (Princes Teaching Institute, Liverpool City of Readers); cultural organisations and institutions (Tate Liverpool, Bluecoat, Edinburgh Book Festival, Booker).

Selected Professional Activities

Event Role

  • Music and Health 15 Year Partnership Celebration at Music and Health 15 Year Partnership Celebration, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (Film Screening, House of Commons, London, 2023) (Event Role)

Conference Roles

  • Reading for Life in Uncertain Times, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia, 2023)
  • Shared Reading at Shared Reading, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (University of Stavanger, 2022)
  • The Mental Health Impact of Restricted Access to Arts and Culture at The Future of Creative Health, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (AHRC Pandemic and Beyond/University of Exeter, 2022)
  • Literary Reading and Mental Health at Danish Institute for Advanced Study (D-IAS) Lecture Series, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (University of Southern Denmark, Odense., 2022)
  • The Uses of Literature in Psychoanalysis at Reading to Recover, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (Cleveland Psychoanalytic Centre, Ohio, US, 2022)
  • ‘Heart that’s sure of heart has little speech./ What shall it tell?’ The sonnet and heart-speech: intimacy and separation, silence and song in Augusta Webster’s Mother and Daughter. at Nineteenth-Century Seminar Series, by Invitation (University of Oxford, 2021)
  • Literary Reading and Mental Health/Wellbeing at ELIT Training School, by Invitation (Online, 2021)
  • Reading and Mental Health at Reading and Resilience, by Invitation (University of Durham, 2020)
  • 17th Biennial Conference, International Society for the Empirical Study of Literature (IGEL), by Invitation (University of Liverpool, 2021)
  • Panel, 'George Eliot in the Wider World: What Good Can She Do?' at George Eliot Bicentenary Conference (University of Leicester, 2019)
  • ‘The Role of Shared Reading in Building Community’, at ‘Reading, Writing, Viewing: Researching How Cultural Forms Support Reconciliation’,, by Invitation (McEwan University, Edmonton, Canada, 2019)
  • Literary Reading and Chronic Pain at 'Subversive Suffering: Pain and Patient Identity in Ancient and Modern Autobiographies',, by Invitation (University of Liverpool, 2019)
  • Lyric Space in Nineteenth-Century Women's Writing at 'A Space of Their Own: Women Writers 1850-1950', Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (University of Chester (Shrewsbury), 2019)
  • Inner Voices: Literary Realism and Psychoanalysis at Depression as Creative and Destructive Force in Contemporary Literature, by Invitation (Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass, US, 2019)
  • ‘Inner Voices: Literary Realism and Psychoanalysis’ at American Comparative Literature Association Annual Conference, by Invitation (Georgetown University, Washington, 2019)
  • Literary Reading and Mental Health at Centre for Contemplative Studies Research Seminar Series, by Invitation (West Chester University, Pennsylvania, 2019)
  • Literary Studies and Public Engagement at British Academy Rising Star Conference, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (University of Huddersfield, 2018)
  • Reading for Chronic Pain at Culture, Health and Wellbeing International Conference (University of Bristol, 2017)
  • What is Shared Reading? at International Librarian and Information Technology Conference, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (University of Tampere, Finland, 2017)
  • Reading and Chronic Pain at Taos Institute Conference on Collaborative Practices in Health and Healthcare, (The New Global Centre fro Health innovation, Cleveland, Ohio, US, 2016)
  • Reading and Chronic Pain (Panel) at Pain Medicine Special Interest Group Annual Conference, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (Rydall Hall, Ambleside, 2016)
  • 'On Not Concluding' at Gaskell Society Conference, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (University of Scarborough, 2015)
  • Oliphant's Radical Realism at Margaret Oliphant Symposium, by Invitation (University of Leicester, 2015)
  • Shared Reading Aloud in Contemporary Practice: The Reader Project at AHRC Voices and Books Network, by Invitation (British Library, 2014)
  • Is Literature Healthy? at Literature and Medicine Seminar Series, by Invitation (University of Oxford, 2014)
  • Reading and Pain at ESRC Seminar Series, ‘Arts and Health’, by Invitation (Royal Society of Medicine, London, 2014)
  • Reading for Life at Crossing the Bar: Public Engagement and Humanities Research (AHRC), by Invitation (Foresight Centre, 2013)
  • The Very Grief a Cure of the Disease at Reading and Health in Early Modern Europe, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (Newcastle University, 2013)
  • Promoting synergies in arts, health, and economics: a report on the Public Engagement Foundation, CASE-funded programme networking three arts for health research initiatives C at Culture, Health and Wellbeing International Conference, by Invitation (Bristol, 2013)
  • ‘More Poetry than Prozac, More Fiction than Therapy: Practice into Research', at Culture, Health and Well-Being International Conference, by Invitation (Bristol, 2013)
  • Reading and Chronic Pain at Shared Reading for Healthier Communities, by Invitation (British Library, 2013)
  • Reading and Chronic Pain at Long Term Conditions: developing global, integrative and sustainable solutions, Institute for Education (Institute of Education, London, 2013)
  • Reading Groups from Practice to Theory at Reading to Live Well, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (British Library, 2012)
  • Reading for Wellbeing at Royal Society for Public Health Arts and Wellbeing Conference (Portland Place, London, 2012)
  • Reading and Mental Health at Medical Humanities Workgroup Conference (Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 2011)
  • The Reader Cure at Strange New Today AHRC Postgraduate Conference, Keynote/Plenary (University of Exeter, 2011)
  • The Sonnet Cure at Poetry and Melancholia (University of Stirling, 2011)
  • Creative Reading Practice, Reading for Life at Reading and Writing in Prisons (Edinburgh Napier University, 2010)
  • Gaskell and Ruskin at Gaskell Society Conference, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (University of Cumbria, 2009)
  • Victorian Inheritance (Panel) at BAVS/NAVS (British and North American Victorian Studies Associations) Joint Annual Conference (Churchill College, University of Cambridge, 2009)
  • 12. ‘The Dialogue of the Heart: EBB, George Meredith and the Nineteenth-Century Sonnet Sequence’, at British Association of Victorian Studies Annual Conference (University of Liverpool, 2006)
  • ‘EBB’s Sonnets from the Portuguese as Shakespearean Drama’ at Bi-centenary conference on Elizabeth Barrett Browning, (Baylor University, Waco, Texas, 2006)
  • International Panel, 'Editing The Works of Elizabeth Gaskell' at Elizabeth Gaskell and Manchester, by Invitation (Manchester Metropolitan University, 2005)
  • 'A Commodity of Good Names': ECG, Elizabeth or Mrs Gaskell? at Elizabeth Gaskell and Manchester (Manchester Metropolitan University, 2005)
  • ‘Wives and Daughters: From Screen to Page’ at Daphne Carrick Lecture, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (Cross Street Chapel, Manchester, 2001)
  • 2. ‘“What Can I do?”; George Eliot, Her Reader and the Tasks of the Narrator in Middlemarch’, at 29th Annual George Eliot Memorial Lecture, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (Nuneaton Town Hall, 1999)
  • George Eliot one-day conference,, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (Whitworth Gallery, Manchester, 1998)
  • ‘Faithful Realism: Ruskin and Gaskell’ at International Multi-disciplinary Conference: ‘Nineteenth-Century Religion and the Fragmentation of Culture in Britain and America’, (University of Lancaster, 1997)

Editorships

  • Selected Works of Margaret Oliphant (Invited Editorial Board Member, 2010 - 2016)
  • Gaskell Society Journal (Invited Editorial Board Member, 2010 - present)
  • The Works of Elizabeth Gaskell (Invited Editorial Board Member, 2004 - 2006)

Event Roles

  • Music and Health 15 Year Partnership Celebration at Music and Health 15 Year Partnership Celebration, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (Film Screening, House of Commons, London, 2023)
  • The Mental Health Impact of Restricted Access to Arts and Culture at DCMS Private Policy Briefing, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (Workshop, DCMS, 2022)
  • is Literature Healthy? at School of the Arts Public Lecture Series, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, South Campus Teaching Hub, 2020)
  • Literature and the Public Good at Author Panelist Edinburgh Book Festival, by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, Edinburgh, 2017)
  • World Mental Health Day Event, Keynote/Plenary (Workshop, Friends Meeting House, Liverpool, 2018)
  • Is Literature Good For You? at World Book Day Panel, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, University of York, 2018)
  • Reading with Families and Children at Reading with Families and Children (Workshop, Weston Park Museum, Sheffield, 2018)
  • Is Literature Healthy? at The Literary Agenda, by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, Waterstone's Piccadilly, London, 2016)
  • The Voices of Victorian Fiction at Victorian Literature for Newly-Qualified Teachers, by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, William Hulme Grammar School, Manchester, 2015)
  • The Voices of Victorian Fiction at Victorian Literature for Newly-Qualified Teachers, by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, Portland Place, London, 2015)
  • Reading for Life at Mersey Care Grand Round, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, Ashworth Hospital, 2015)
  • Reading for Wellbeing at Reading Communities: Connecting the Past and the Present AHRC Network, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, The Athenaeum, Liverpool, 2015)
  • The Voices of Victorian Fiction at Victorian Literature for Newly-Qualified Teachers, by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, Greycoat Hospital School, London, 2014)
  • The Voices of Victorian Fiction at Victorian Literature for Newly-Qualified Teachers, by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, Harrogate Grammar School, 2014)
  • Voices of Victorian Fiction at Victorian Fiction for Newly Qualified Teachers, by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, Haringey Development Centre, 2014)
  • The Voices of Victorian Fiction at Victorian Literature for Newly Qualified Teachers, by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, Bishop Challon College, Birmingham, 2014)
  • '“This is Living Art”: Making Victorian Poetry Live for C21st Students', at Victorian Fiction Study Day, Prince's Teaching Institute Event, by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, Southwark Cathedral, London, 2014)
  • The Voices of Victorian Fiction at Victorian Literature for Newly Qualified Teachers, by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, Altrincham Girls' Grammar School, 2014)
  • The Voices of Victorian Fiction at Victorian Fiction for Newly-Qualified Teachers, by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, Pimlico Academy London, 2014)
  • Reading for Pleasure in Schools at United Learning Teachers' Event, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, Excel Centre, London, 2013)
  • Poetry not Prozac: Reading and Depression at World Mental Health Day Lecture, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, Eleanor Rathbone Building, 2012)
  • The Contemporary Novel at The Contemporary Novel, Prince's Teaching Institute Event, by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, The People's History Museum, Manchester, 2012)
  • ‘The Wonder of Alice: Images, Myths and Realities’, by Invitation (Workshop, Tate Liverpool, 2011)
  • '“This is Living Art”: Making Victorian Poetry Live for C21st Students' at Victorian Literature Study Day, Prince's Teaching Institute Event, by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, Gladstone's Library, Hawarden, 2011)
  • Reading in the Community at English Without Walls (Workshop, Birkbeck College, 2009)
  • 'Elizabeth Gaskell’s Wives and Daughters: A Narrative of Time' at Prince's Teaching Institute, Keynote/Plenary by Invitation (Talk/Lecture, Crewe Hall, Cheshire, 2009)

Examination Roles

  • University of Stavanger, ELIT PhD (EU funded) Mid-term public assessment (2022)
  • King's College London, ‘Material Evidence: The Significance of Fabrics in the Writings of Elizabeth Gaskell" (PhD, 2021)
  • University of Liverpool, ‘“We’re just talking”: Cultural Representations of Assisted Dying in Contemporary British and American Narratives’, (PhD, 2021)
  • University of Liverpool, 'Maybe I can take you by the hand and we can do this’: Transitions, Translation and Transitions in Creative Dance' (PhD, 2020)
  • ‘From Fallen Woman to Businesswoman: The Radical Voices of Elizabeth Gaskell and Margaret Oliphant’, (PhD, 2018)
  • ‘”How Literature Changed my Life”: A Hermeneutically Oriented Narrative Inquiry into Transformative Experiences of Reading Imaginative Literature’ (PhD, 2018)
  • ‘Women in their Worlds of Objects: construction of female agency through things in the novels of Jane Austen and Elizabeth Gaskell’ (PhD, 2015)
  • ‘A cross-linguistic, cross-cultural, literary study of metaphors of emotion in Eliot's Middlemarch and Tolstoy's Anna Karenina’ (PhD, 2013)
  • Glamorgan University, Masters by Directed Research (PGT, 2013)

External Administrative or Committee Roles

  • Peer Reviewer (2017 - present)
  • Board Member (Vice-President) (2019 - 2021)

Internal Administrative or Committee Roles

  • Co-Lead Arts, Mental Health and Wellbeing theme, and steering committee member, Centre for Health, Arts, Society and Environment (CHASE) (University, 2017 - present)
  • Associate Dean for Research and Impact (School / Institute, 2022)
  • Co-convenor, Researching Health, Cultures and Societies (Faculty, 2021 - present)
  • Cluster Lead, Literary Reading and Mental Health (Department, 2021 - present)
  • Member, Research and Impact Committee (School / Institute, 2019 - present)
  • Member, Research and Impact Committee (Faculty, 2019 - present)
  • Impact Lead (School / Institute, 2019 - 2021)
  • Convenor, Close Reading (Department, 2018 - 2019)

Media Appearances

  • We're All Reading Wrong, The Atlantic (Invited, April 2024)
  • Podcast Series, Centre for Contemplative Studies, West Chester University (February 2024)
  • Pandemic and Beyond: Arts Culture and Mental Health, AHRC/University of Exeter Pandemic and Beyond Podcast Series (Invited, May 2021)
  • Morning Live, BBC TV (Invited, March 2021)
  • Interviews (15) on reading and empowerment with novelist, Anne Cleeves, and Bookseller editor,Kathy Renzenbrink, BBC (Invited, February 2016)
  • Interviews (15) with Bookseller editor, Kathy Renzenbrink., BBC (Invited, February 2015)

Organisations I have been associated with

  • Prince's Teaching Institute (2009 - present)
  • Quick Reads/The Reading Agency (2014 - 2016)
  • Royal Liverpool Hospital (2011 - present)
  • Mersey Care NHS Mental Health Trust (2009 - present)
  • Wirral PCT (2011 - 2013)
  • Liverpool Children's Services (2011 - 2012)
  • Liverpool City Council (2010 - 2016)
  • The Reader (2007 - present)

Other Administrative or Committee Roles

  • Impact Lead, School of the Arts
  • Co-lead, Arts, Mental Health and Wellbeing, Centre for Health, Arts, Society and the Environment (2017 - present)
  • Deputy Director, Centre for Research into Reading, Literature and Society (CRILS)