
Professor Siobhán McIlvanney
Professor of French and Francophone Women's Writing
Research interests
- Culture
- Languages
- Literature
Contact details
Biography
I graduated with an MA in French and German from the University of Glasgow, before completing a D.Phil. at the Queen’s College, Oxford. I joined the department of French at King’s in 1994.
Research Interests and PhD Supervision
- Contemporary French and Francophone Women's Writing
- Narratives of Ageing and Care
- Franco-Algerian Women Writing
- The Early French Women's Press
My most recent research has focused on representations of women's ageing and care in French and Francophone women's writing, in particular matrilinear relations and relations between carer and cared-for, including in care home narratives. I have also co-edited a forthcoming volume on Women and Power in Contemporary French and Francophone Cultures and Societies examining the manifestations – and abuses – of power that, while specific to the geopolitics of a French and Francophone context, remain an informative index of more widespread attitudes to women’s rights in terms of professional and personal parity. I have published extensively on a range of French and Francophone women authors and have a particular interest in Franco-Algerian women’s writing, including works by Maïssa Bey, Leïla Marouane and Malika Mokeddem. I published the first monograph in English on the contemporary French author, Annie Ernaux.
I am also interested in early manifestations of feminist thought in women’s journalistic writings in France and have recently published a monograph on the early years of the French women’s press, Figurations of the Feminine in the Early French Women's Press. You can find out more about the book in an interview here.
I am very happy to be contacted by prospective PhD students whose research interests coincide with my own.
For more details, please see my full research profile.
Teaching
I teach on a variety of courses in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures related to French and Francophone women’s writing at both BA and MA level. I also teach on modules for students outside the Department.
Expertise and Public Engagements
I am co-editor of the De Gruyter series, Cultures of Ageing and Care and I am an editor of twentieth and twenty-first century French and Francophone Women's Writing for the Literary Encyclopedia. I am on the Executive Committee of the Society for French Studies. I am co-President of Women in French UK-Ireland and a member of the Executive Committee of Women in French North America. I am also an External Assessor for the Irish Research Council.
Selected Publications
- 'Collaborative Care: Sharing Stories of Ageing in Recent French and Francophone Women's Writing', Women's Narratives of Ageing and Care (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2025), pp. 21-38.
- With Shirley Jordan, ‘Thoughts on Place: A Conversation with Annie Ernaux’, French Studies, 78:3 (2024), pp. 497–510.
- 'Working Through Maternal Ambivalence: The Wake-up Call of Chanson douce', Modern & Contemporary France, Volume 31, 2023, Issue 3, pp. 361-377. Winner of Modern & Contemporary France article of the year 2023.
- Figurations of the Feminine in the Early French Women's Press, 1758-1848 (2019, Liverpool, Liverpool University Press). Shortlisted for the R. Gapper Book Prize 2020.
- Women and the City in French Literature and Culture: Reconfiguring the Feminine in the Urban Environment (2019, Cardiff, University of Wales Press).
Research

Textual Representation: Poetics/Fiction/Rhetoric
Researchers within the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Culture at King’s College London are dedicated to exploring literary texts in multilingual contexts.

Visual Culture
The Visual Culture research group is a network of scholars within King’s College London working across a diverse historical range of film, art, and performance.
News
Conference highlights importance of humanities in menopause research
‘New Perspectives on the Menopause’ emphasised the significance of humanities expertise in improving mid-life and menopause health and wellbeing.

King's professor interviews Nobel prize-winner, Annie Ernaux
Professor Siobhán McIlvanney from King’s Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures and Professor Shirley Jordan from Newcastle University interviewed...

King's professor wins journal's article of the year award
Professor Siobhán McIlvanney has been announced as the winner of the Modern & Contemporary France prize for the best article for 2023.

Dr Siobhán McIlvanney publishes new book Figurations of the Feminine
Dr Siobhán McIlvanney, Reader in French and Francophone Women’s Writing and Head of the Department of French at King's College London, has published her new...

Events

New Perspectives on the Menopause
A one-day cross disciplinary conference discussing recent developments in researching and understanding the menopause.
Please note: this event has passed.
Research

Textual Representation: Poetics/Fiction/Rhetoric
Researchers within the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Culture at King’s College London are dedicated to exploring literary texts in multilingual contexts.

Visual Culture
The Visual Culture research group is a network of scholars within King’s College London working across a diverse historical range of film, art, and performance.
News
Conference highlights importance of humanities in menopause research
‘New Perspectives on the Menopause’ emphasised the significance of humanities expertise in improving mid-life and menopause health and wellbeing.

King's professor interviews Nobel prize-winner, Annie Ernaux
Professor Siobhán McIlvanney from King’s Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures and Professor Shirley Jordan from Newcastle University interviewed...

King's professor wins journal's article of the year award
Professor Siobhán McIlvanney has been announced as the winner of the Modern & Contemporary France prize for the best article for 2023.

Dr Siobhán McIlvanney publishes new book Figurations of the Feminine
Dr Siobhán McIlvanney, Reader in French and Francophone Women’s Writing and Head of the Department of French at King's College London, has published her new...

Events

New Perspectives on the Menopause
A one-day cross disciplinary conference discussing recent developments in researching and understanding the menopause.
Please note: this event has passed.