Holly Riach is a Lecturer in English Literature at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society.

More information about Holly Riach

Fields of interest

• Codicology
• Early Modern Studies
• English Literature and Culture
• Manuscript Studies
• Paleography
• Women's History 

Research

Holly Riach is a lecturer in English Literature at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society. Her research focuses on early modern English scribal culture, cultures of textual collection, and the organization of knowledge.

She completed her doctoral research in February 2026 as part of the ERC consolidator project FEATHERS. Her thesis investigates the polyvocality and structural complexity of early modern manuscript miscellanies (one of the most prevalent mediums in which texts were stored and transmitted), and the principles through which they were organized. It teases out the challenges faced by scribes and the opportunities afforded to them as they worked at the intersection between collaborative, communal miscellany-making and individual organizational practices.

Holly teaches on various courses and supervises theses in English Literature at BA and MA level.

Grants and awards

• Thijssen-Schoute Fellow, 2026
• Huntington Library Short-Term Fellowship, 2022-2023.

CV

Curriculum Vitae
2019-2020: MLitt, Medieval and Early Modern Literature and Culture, University of Glasgow

2015-2019: Joint Honors MA, English Literature and English Language and Linguistics, University of Glasgow

Teaching Activities
Academic year 2021-2022, semester 2:
Literature 2: English Literature, ca. 1550-1700 (BA year 1)

Academic Year 2022-2023, semester 1:
Humanities Lab: Unheard Voices (BA)

Publications