Balancing a PhD and a publishing deal - the Birkbeck way

In 2019 Erin completed an MA in British History at Birkbeck, where she focused on medicine in Georgian England. Now in the third year of her PhD at Birkbeck, she is developing a thesis titled, The Intellectual Engagement of Georgian Britain’s Elite Women as Seen Through Their Manuscript Writing. Alongside her studies, Erin wrote her first book, Women Who Kill: A History of Britain’s Most Dangerous Women, published in 2024. In June 2025, it won the True Crime Awards’ Reader’s Choice Book of the Year. Here, she discusses the experience of writing while studying and reflects on her time at Birkbeck.

How did Women Who Kill come about, what made you want to write it?
I write articles for a variety of independent history magazines, one of which is The Historian’s Magazine. I wrote an article back in October 2021 for THM about 19th century Murderesses. A commissioning editor at Pen and Sword publishers read it and asked if I was interested in expanding it into a book about the history of female killers, focusing particularly on the stories of these women and what may have led them to commit their horrible crimes. I was VERY interested as women’s history is my focus, and it is a career goal of mine to uncover and share women’s stories from history with the world.

Did your academic work influence the book, or was it something that developed alongside your studies?
It really developed alongside my studies. When I received the book offer in May 2022, I had just confirmed my enrolment to begin my PhD that fall, so the following 14 months were very hectic trying to balance both. They are very different topics except for the fact that they both focus on telling women’s stories. I enjoyed the fact that they were different however, because it gave my brain a refresh when I would switch back and forth from topic to topic. It was also a different topic than my MA which was on Georgian medicine, but I have always been fascinated by the history of crime; I took related modules in my undergrad and MA, and wrote an essay during that time about the Elizabethan criminal underworld.

What drew you to women’s history in particular – and how has that shaped your current PhD research?
I love learning about women and uncovering fascinating female stories. Yet women’s lives have often been under-researched and disregarded throughout history. It’s made me determined to continue uncovering and disseminating them as widely as I can throughout my career. Suzannah Lipscomb’s chapter ‘How do we uncover the lost lives of women?’ in her and Helen Carr’s edited collection What is History Now (2021) really inspired me and solidified what I wanted to do with my career and voice.

You studied your MA at Birkbeck, and are now doing a PhD here too - what kept you coming back?
First and foremost, London is my favourite city in the world. It’s history, culture, architecture, beauty all make it a magical place. Additionally, I was drawn to Birkbeck’s selection of courses for my MA and its flexible class structure and location. I had had such a wonderful experience during my MA that I wanted to stay in the Birkbeck community, which is why I decided to do a PhD here. Particularly important, was the amazing opportunity it provided me of doing a Distance Learning PhD. I live in Ontario, Canada with my family but I am able to still attend Birkbeck. I travel to London 1-2 times a year for several weeks which is a dream, and I do the rest of my research and writing at home.

Looking back on your time as a postgraduate student, is there anything that’s helped make the experience work for you or shaped your journey in an unexpected way?
As I previously said, the unique class structure worked well for me as I was able to do work and explore London during the day, have class at night and then be home by 8pm. It was a brilliant schedule. I also thrived being so close to all so many beneficial resources, particularly the British Library and the Wellcome Collection. Being immediately surrounded by so much history in general was additionally inspiring and exciting while doing my own history research. My MA also provided me with many valuable skills that have greatly helped me in my career so far including, writing, researching, formatting, networking, referencing and analysing.

How have you managed the balance between academic research and writing for a wider audience? Has one changed how you think about the other?
Great question. This has been tricky because until my book opportunity, I had only ever written academically, so it was a learning curve for sure. Overall, I found it easier to write for a wider audience because it was more flexible, and I was able to put a little more of my voice and personality in it because it allows for a more approachable tone. I also discovered that I really enjoy writing narratively, so I want to incorporate that energy into any future non-fiction books I write.

Your book recently won Reader’s Choice at the True Crime Awards. What does that mean to you?

It means so much to think that all of the people who voted for me and my book really enjoyed it; connected to it; because it’s about women and women’s lives and much of the book highlights how the criminal justice system was biased and women suffered because of it. To know that people enjoyed learning about these women is fulfilling and makes me look forward to sharing more stories in the future, hopefully getting as warm a reception. Furthermore, it details some really wicked crimes and women, and it makes me happy that I was able to intrigue people with my research and storytelling. It is very affirming, to have the public, not just a panel of judges, pick your book as their favourite. I still can’t quite believe it.