Centre Directors
Professor Kirsty Fairclough
Dr Sorcha Ní Fhlainn
Centre Members
Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes
Xavier Aldana Reyes is a Reader in English Literature and Film who specialises in gothic and horror studies. His books include Contemporary Body Horror (2024), Gothic Cinema (2020) and Horror Film and Affect (2016), among others.
Key publications:
X. Aldana Reyes (2024) Contemporary Body Horror. Cambridge University Press.
X. Aldana Reyes (2020) Gothic Cinema. Routledge.
X. Aldana Reyes (2016) Horror Film and Affect. Routledge.
Dr Eleanor Beal
Professor Andrew Biswell
Dr Matthew Carter
Dr Matthew Carter is a Senior Lecturer in Film at Manchester Metropolitan University. He is interested in the cultural history of the USA, and his research concerns the impact of frontier mythology and the Hollywood Western on that nation’s society, politics, and sense of identity. His other interests include horror, science fiction, genre theory, and ideology critique.
Key Publications:
M. Carter, M. Paryz, and M. E. Marubbio (2020) Figurations of Settler Colonialism in Contemporary Cinematic Depictions of the US West (Special Issue of Journal of English and American Studies). Walter de Gruyter.
M. Carter and M. Paryz (2018) The Visual Language of Gender and Family in the Western (Special Issue of Papers on Language and Literature). Southern Illinois University.
M. Carter and A. P. Nelson (eds, 2016) The Films of Delmer Daves. Edinburgh University Press.
M. Carter (2014) Myth of the Western. Edinburgh University Press.
Dr Amy C. Chambers
Dr Samantha Colling
Dr Carmen Herrero
Dr Sarah Ilott
Dr Sarah Ilott is Senior Lecturer in English and Film. Her research explores the intersections of anti/racist politics and popular culture, with particular expertise in comedy and the gothic. Her next book, Screening Multicultural Britain: Race, Racism and British Comedy, will be published by Palgrave in 2026.
Key Publications:
S. Ilott (2026) Screening Multicultural Britain: Race, Racism and British Comedy. Palgrave.
S. Ilott and H. Davies (eds, 2018) Comedy and the Politics of Representation: Mocking the Weak. Palgrave.
S. Ilott (2015) New Postcolonial British Genres: Shifting the Boundaries. Palgrave.
Dr Ben Litherland
Dr Reuben Martens
Dr Reuben Martens is a sound artist, poet, screenwriter, and an Assistant Professor in Film and Media Studies at Manchester Metropolitan University. His work is mainly situated within the fields of the energy humanities, ecomedia, video games studies, film studies, sound studies, and critical infrastructure studies.
Key Publications:
D. Janzen and R. Martens (2025) ‘Petrophonics.’ Anthropologica, 66(2), pp. 1-17.
R. Martens (2023) ‘Sunny Side Up: Solarpunk Futures for a Dying World.’ Extrapolation, 64, (1), pp. 33-52.
R. Martens (2021) ‘The Question Concerning Energy: Machinic Ontology and Ecological Crisis in The Matrix Trilogy.’ ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, 28(2), pp. 410-35.
Dr Marta F. Suarez
Dr Jack Warren
Jack Warren is a Lecturer in Film and Media Studies at Manchester Metropolitan University and a member of the Manchester Game Centre. His research interests include video games, queer studies, affect studies, and the environmental humanities.
Key Publications:
J. Warren (2024) ‘Affect Theory.’ The Year’s Work in Critical and Cultural Theory 31(1).
J. Warren (2024) ‘Queer Thinking with Digital Stones.’ In Environmental Humanities and the Video Game. Palgrave.
J. Warren (2023) ‘Touching Fantasy Role-Play.’ In Material Game Studies. Bloomsbury.