{"id":6136,"date":"2026-03-04T10:02:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T10:02:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/life\/?p=6136"},"modified":"2026-03-18T08:59:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T08:59:00","slug":"five-minutes-with-nick-freeman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/life\/five-minutes-with\/five-minutes-with-nick-freeman\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Minutes With: Nick Freeman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/life\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/01\/NickFreeman.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"850\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/life\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/01\/NickFreeman.jpg\" alt=\"Close-up of Nick Freeman.\" class=\"wp-image-6137\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/life\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/01\/NickFreeman.jpg 900w, https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/life\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/01\/NickFreeman-300x283.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/life\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/24\/2026\/01\/NickFreeman-768x725.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What\u2019s your job title and how long have you been at Loughborough?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>I joined Loughborough in 2007. I&#8217;m based in English, where I am currently a Reader in Late Victorian Literature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Tell us what a typical day in your job looks like?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>A major reason why I became an academic is that every day is different. I&#8217;d distinguish though between a day spent on campus working with students and colleagues, and a research day spent in a library, an archive, or ransacking the house looking for a book I&#8217;m sure I&#8217;ve got somewhere. Helping students develop and refine their skills and discover what they are capable of is very fulfilling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What\u2019s your favourite project you\u2019ve worked on?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>My favourite research project is my current one. At the moment, I&#8217;m writing a book about the first English production of Oscar Wilde&#8217;s play, &#8216;Salome&#8217;, in 1905. It had been banned by the censor because it portrayed Biblical characters, but a daring group of amateur actors managed to stage it at a theatre in Notting Hill. It&#8217;s really exciting rediscovering those lost performers and saluting their daring initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is your proudest moment at Loughborough?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Individually, when I won the LSU &#8216;Lecturer of the Year&#8217; award in 2008. As a team member, it was probably working on the REF submission when English did better than ever before in REF 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Which University value&nbsp;do you most resonate with and why?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>They are all so interconnected that it&#8217;s hard to isolate one above the others, but my work is definitely about collaboration and creativity, whether with students and colleagues or in my research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Tell us something you do outside of work that we might not know about?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>My pride and joy is a Chilean Nightshade tree I grew from a tiny sapling. It now has masses of purple flowers every summer. The butterflies and bees love it even more than I do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is your favourite quote?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Ronald Firbank summed things up pretty well in his novel, Vainglory, from 1915. &#8220;The world is disgracefully managed. One hardly knows to whom to complain.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ve also often benefitted from John Connolly&#8217;s sage advice: &#8220;If you&#8217;re gonna taunt the dog, make sure you know the length of the chain.&#8221; Wise words!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong>If you would like to feature in \u2018Five Minutes With\u2019, or you work with someone who you think would be great to include, please email Martha Causier at m.causier@lboro.ac.uk<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What\u2019s your job title and how long have you been at Loughborough? I joined Loughborough in 2007. I&#8217;m based in English, where I am currently a Reader in Late Victorian Literature. Tell us what a typical day in your job looks like? A major reason why I became an academic is that every day is [&hellip;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":6137,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"lboro_blog_alternative_thumbnail_image":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-five-minutes-with"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Five Minutes With: Nick Freeman - Loughborough Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.lboro.ac.uk\/life\/five-minutes-with\/five-minutes-with-nick-freeman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Five Minutes With: Nick Freeman - Loughborough Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What\u2019s your job title and how long have you been at Loughborough? 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