Lochie Springett

Thesis title: Life Work: Modern Poetry’s Long Form 

Supervisor: Hannah Sullivan

Most of my research centres around questions of literary form, with a particular focus on the relationship between writing and ageing. At its core, my DPhil considers a group of American poets, from Walt Whitman to Jay Wright, who each investigate what it might entail to spend one's entire life writing a single poem. Underpinning these concerns is an interest in the poorly-defined category of ‘the long poem’, and the ways that a renewed focus on temporal length—both at the scale of the line, and the composition as a whole—might offer a more useful framework. Alongside Whitman and Wright, some writers of particular interest include Ezra Pound, Marianne Moore, Robert Lowell, Bernadette Mayer, Jorie Graham, and Nathaniel Mackey.

Together with Mantra Mukim, I am convening a symposium on modern poetry and the concept of 'measure', to be hosted at St John's in January 2027. Brining together leading academics and major contemporary poets, the event will serve as the foundation for a collection of essays on the theme, which I will edit with Dr Mukim. 

In addition to my own research, I teach the introductory course in literary theory (Prelims 1b) at St Hilda's College and supervise undergraduate dissertations on a wide range of topics. In the past, I have also taught seminars and revision classes for Prelims 3 (1830–1910), Prelims 4 (1910–present), and FHS 5 (1760–1830). 

Research interests: Book history, genetic criticism, 'late style', life-writing, modernism, poetics, prosody, senescence and ageing, serial forms.