An academic from Florida State University’s Department of English has been acknowledged for her impact in the realm of Romantic-era literature and culture.

Judith Pascoe, George Mills Harper Professor of English, has been awarded the 2025 Distinguished Scholar Award from the Keats-Shelley Association of America (K-SAA) in honor of her sustained excellence in research on Romantic-era British literature and culture. As one of the two individuals receiving this award this year, Pascoe was celebrated by K-SAA in January at the 2025 Modern Language Association Annual Convention held in New Orleans.

“I was both astonished and delighted to receive the award, especially given that previous honorees include my dissertation advisor at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Stuart Curran, who significantly supported Romantic-era female authors,” remarked Pascoe.

Founded in 1949, K-SAA promotes the exploration and appreciation of John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley, key authors from the Romantic period, which extended from the late-18th century to the early-19th century. The Distinguished Scholar Award by K-SAA acknowledges those who have committed their careers to the study of Romantic-era authors and culture.

“It’s incredibly thrilling for one of our own faculty members to attain such a prestigious honor from a significant entity in the field,” commented Andrew Epstein, chair of the Department of English and Caldwell Professor of English. “This validates Dr. Pascoe’s standing as one of the most critical and impactful scholars of Romanticism.”

“The British Romantics produced some of the most extraordinary poetry and prose in literary history, and their influence persists in genres ranging from horror films to political manifestos,” Pascoe stated. “Moreover, the social challenges that the Romantics confronted — such as racism, technology, climate issues, and political upheavals — continue to confront us today.”

Last year, Pascoe was awarded a $60,000 grant from the National Endowment of Humanities to finalize her book, “Twinkle, Twinkle: Female Literary Ambition, Male Genius, and the Most Famous Poet You’ve Never Heard Of.” This undertaking emphasizes Jane Taylor, the creator of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and marks Pascoe’s fifth volume connected to British Romanticism. To accomplish this project, Pascoe will also utilize Strozier Library’s John MacKay Shaw Collection of Childhood in Poetry alongside research support available through the George Mills Harper Professorship.

“I endeavor to make my research engaging and approachable to a wide audience,” Pascoe noted. “In my latest book, ‘On the Bullet Train with Emily Brontë’, which I completed as a Guggenheim Fellow, my aim was to comprehend why ‘Wuthering Heights’ has been so warmly received in Japan, while also documenting my journey as an adult learner of Japanese.”

In “The Hummingbird Cabinet: A Rare and Curious History of Romantic Collectors” (Cornell University Press, 2005), Pascoe utilized archival research to investigate the significance of collecting in the dynamics between reader, author, and literary legacy. She wrote about collectors of birds, literary works, Napoleonic artifacts, botanical samples, Egyptian artifacts, and fossils.

In “The Sarah Siddons Audio Files: Romanticism and the Lost Voice” (University of Michigan Press, 2011), Pascoe aspired to resurrect the lost voice of Sarah Siddons, a Romantic-era theatrical performer whose powerful portrayals, such as Lady Macbeth, induced audience members to faint during a period when voices could not be recorded. To achieve this, Pascoe took a Voice for Actors class, gathered recordings of performances of Lady Macbeth, and began to more closely consider the sound environment of her daily life. Pascoe’s book also explored how contemporary recording technologies have transformed the human experience of vocal expression.

“Awardees of the Distinguished Scholar Award, like Dr. Pascoe, are celebrated for their contributions in shaping the future discourse surrounding Romanticism, emphasizing something we take great pride in: FSU is at the forefront of research in this essential literary discipline and the humanities at large,” Epstein affirmed.

To discover more about Pascoe’s endeavors and FSU’s Department of English, please visit english.fsu.edu.

The article FSU English professor awarded for career contributions to Romantic-era scholarship  first appeared on Florida State University News.