Jessica DeMarco-Jacobson

Thesis: Cornelia Turner & Her First Novel: A Literary Biography (working title)

Supervisors: Drs Seamus Perry and Bysshe Coffey

Bio: I am a former journalist and trade union organiser for public university employees with a fervent passion for learning. My thesis examines the life and work of Cornelia Turner (née Chastel de Boinville), an obscure nineteenth-century author who wrote two novels in support of the Italian unification movement known as the Risorgimento. Turner is mostly known for her relationships to famous writers such as Percy Shelley, Giovanni Ruffini, and Vernon Lee. Although Turner’s relationships to these writers are certainly important, my thesis is rooted in feminist recovery and fully recognizes her political, and literary contributions, and to encourage similar reconsiderations for other nineteenth-century women involved in European nation-making.

I am generally interested in the literature and history of the long nineteenth-century, (trans)nationalism studies, life-writing, and the Risorgimento. I have published work on Christina Rossetti, the Brontë sisters, nationalist Romantic literature, and George Eliot.

I enjoy anything “old”, including classical, medieval, and early modern literature and sardonically believe that Modernism ruined the written word. I advocate for publicly accessible academia and knowledge and regularly contribute to Wikipedia. I am also passionate about social justice issues, and I enjoy rowing, playing women’s football, analogue film photography, and volunteering for Oxford Mutual Aid.

Education:

• University of Georgia (2023-2025) - MA in English Literature
• University of Oxford, Regent's Park College (2021-2022) - Visiting Non-Matriculated Student
• Columbus State University (2018-2022) - BA in English Literature, minor in History, Medieval & Renaissance Studies Certificate

Publications:

• Risorgimento Revolutionary Domesticity in Cornelia Turner's Angelo Sanmartino. In press at Victorians Institute Journal.
• Book review of Model Women of the Press: Gender, Politics and Women's Professional Journalism, 1850-1880, by Teja Varma Pusapati (Routledge, 2024). Under review at Victoriographies.
• The Risorgimento of Christina Rossetti, The Pre-Raphaelite Society Review, Vol. XXXII, no. 2, Autumn/Winter 2024
• Provincial Setting in Middlemarch, The Arden, Vol. XX, 2022
• “A Mirror Which Makes Beautiful:” Giuseppe Mazzini’s Love of Romantic Literature and its Effects on the Risorgimento, Momentum, 2020
• “An Unfortunate Governess Received:” Anne and Charlotte Brontë’s Portrayals of the Feminine Occupation, Momentum, 2020

Conference papers:

• Who cares about Cornelia Turner?, Victorians Institute Conference. Greenville, SC. 13-14 Sept. 2025.
• Aaron’s Rod and D.H. Lawrence’s Travel Writings in Liberal Era Italy, Lawrence in Mexico: Travel, Translation, and Transcultural Representation. Mexico City, Mexico. 11-15 Aug 2025.
• “The mosquito hovers”: D.H. Lawrence, Blood, and the Disappointment of Italy’s Liberal Era. Virtual Graduate Conference in D.H. Lawrence Studies. 18 May 2024.
• The Risorgimento of Christina Rossetti’s Goblin Market, Victorians Institute Conference. Raleigh, NC. 6-8 Oct. 2023.