Spotlight on Staff: Dr Christy Wensley

Tell us about your research interests

My research covers the 19th-21st centuries, with a focus on the ways in which identity and literary form are shaped by questions of race, particularly Blackness, in the transatlantic imagination. I primarily work on Henry James and Jamesian afterlives in the work of Black writers and intellectuals.

I’m working on a monograph which argues that Blackness is a crucial ‘hidden subject’ in Henry James’s fiction, requiring sustained attention and re-reading through critical race and Black studies. My new project examines how writer-theorists James Baldwin and Stuart Hall responded to Henry James, among others 19th century writers, and the ways in which this relationship informs their exploration of ‘strangeness’ and of being a stranger.

Which book had the biggest impact on you?

Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady. This question is incredibly easy to answer even though I have so many books that mean a lot to me. I first read James in high school, for fun (!) and immediately felt that I had found something that changed everything. This novel has ended up shaping my career trajectory, critical engagements and to my professors’ and colleagues’ chagrin, sometimes my writing style.

Honourable mentions in life-changing works include The Golden Bowl, which I would argue is the Jamesiest James; Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina which I first read – and probably did not at all understand – when I was 13; and E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, the first ‘big’ book I read on my own as a child. Eventually I had to stop re-reading it because it made me cry every single time.

James Baldwin’s Another Country, Toni Morrison’s Playing in The Dark, and Fred Moten’s and Stefano Harney’s The Undercommons were also life altering. Reading these remarkable books changed my approach to my own work and my entire PhD thesis in my third year (which I don’t necessarily recommend…).

What do you do in your spare time?

In my spare time, I’m a wanderer. I enjoy hiking, running, and going on hours-long walks, during which I work through knotty writing issues, listen to podcasts and music when alone, and really delve into feelings, relationships and histories when with friends. I’ve run several marathons and am planning one for autumn 2024 so the training takes up many hours.

I’m also passionate about film, especially horror, film noir, thrillers, etc. I guess I like to be a little scared or slightly physically uncomfortable in my free time.

Describe your ideal day.

I feel so fortunate that I get to experience my ‘ideal day’ pretty regularly since moving to Oxford. I get up and have coffee in my garden before walking to my office to read and write, following the day’s passions, concerns, and questions. In the evening, I make dinner and, again, eat in the garden if the weather allows. If I’m feeling virtuous, I’ll go for a run. The weekends look very similar but with the added joy of seeing my friends for longer stretches of time.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?

Oxford is lovely and I enjoy it more and more since moving here in September. I’m also very fond of London. But my true love is New York City. I’ve dreamt of New York from the time I was a child in California and moved there for university. I’ve lived there off and on for 20+ years and am absolutely obsessed with its energy, its people and its neighbourhoods. I often complain about its many faults, but that’s one of the greatest pleasures of being a New Yorker.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A lawyer, an actress, a novelist. In many ways being an academic fulfils several aspects of all three.

Who were your childhood heroes?

My mom, Yvette. She rode horses, hated Reagan, and was the most glamorous 80s icon with big hair and lots of eyeliner. She was a single mom, worked multiple jobs and encouraged/demanded fierce independence and responsibility from herself and others. I try to bring her passion and protectiveness into everything I do.

I also really wanted to be Barbara Stanwyck or Catwoman (the Michelle Pfeiffer 1992 version, though Eartha Kitt is a close second).

Do you have pets?

I don’t currently since I switch countries too often, but my best childhood memories include the dogs and cats I grew up with.

I very much miss having pets so I say hello to every dog and cat I meet.

Were you popular as a teenager?

Ha! No. I had great friends and was not at all shy, but I was studious and uninterested in football games and house parties, which were required for American high school popularity.

What do you like most about your job? What do you like least?

I love that our job is to have amazing conversations with students, colleagues, writers, artists, theorists and scholars in person but also across time, media, disciplines, and philosophies. How lucky we are!

I also love witnessing our students’ intelligence, energy, political awareness and genuine desire to change the world for the better.

Like many of us, I hate the precarity and somewhat grim outlook for universities and funding, especially for the humanities.

Why are we here?

Is it too ridiculous to say that we’re here to explore and experience love in all its facets and forms? For me, the point of being here is in these acts and practices of love, from our personal relationships with others to creating art, whatever that may mean to you, exploring our passions and taking care of each other and the planet. (Today I’m approaching a world of present and impending crises with more hope than usual).

If you weren’t a member of the English Faculty, what would you be?

I’ve had many other jobs and previous non-academic lives, so I don’t know exactly what I’d be. I think I’d want to try something completely new and unexpected.

Maybe a park ranger? I love the woods and the amazing national parks in the UK and US. However, that might be too incredible of a detour from academia and living in cities.

Christy Wensley is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in English at the University of Oxford. She's currently writing a book, Henry James's 'Hidden Slave' based on her doctoral research. Her new project thinks about the literary influences of and 'conversations' between Henry James, James Baldwin and Stuart Hall through a focus on transatlantic encounter, diaspora and strange(r)ness. She has a chapter forthcoming in an edited collection on horror cinema and class.