David Punter
David Punter (born 19 November 1949, in Harrow, London) is Professor of English at the University of Bristol. He is the author of many critical studies, and has been internationally recognised as an expert on Gothic culture. Career Punter's academic career commenced as a senior lecturer at the University of East Anglia. He left in 1986 to take up the post of Professor of English and Head of Department at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In 1989 he was appointed Head of Department at the University of Stirling in Scotland. In 2000 he moved to the University of Bristol, where has been Graduate Dean and Research Director of the Faculty of Arts. Punter has published twenty-four critical books, four books of poetry, as well as hundreds of essays and articles. His major interest has been in Gothic fiction and the wider culture of the Gothic. He has also published books on prose and poetry from the eighteenth century to the present day and literary theory, deconstruction, psychoanalysis and ‘anti-canon theory’. In the role of Orator at the University of Bristol, Punter has delivered eulogies for the honorary degrees conferred on Michael Eavis, Julia Donaldson, and Terry Pratchett. Academic achievements