Benjamin Mark Iain Parris

My research focuses on the intersection between the fiction and socio-politics of interwar Britain, destabilising popular conceptions of genre, Englishness, and the period's literary heterogeneity through close readings. I currently focus upon forgotten detective writers, such as John Dickson Carr and Lynn Brock.

Outside of academia I am a freelance journalist and critic for several Scottish and American-based journals and magazines. I also interview authors, many of whom tie in to my current research interest in detective fiction. Recently these include Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, Paula Hawkins, Richard Coles, Graeme Macrae Burnet, and Louise Welsh. 

I run local book clubs, most recently 'The Mysterious Affair at Topping & Co.: A Century of Scottish Crime Writing'.

• Lifelong Learning Dundee (LLD): The World Through Literature  (2026)
• EN3905: Crime and Passion in Popular Culture 2: Since 1900 (2025)
• EN1003: Culture and Conflict, An Introduction to 19th and 20th Century English Literature (2024)