John Keats: some puzzles, mysteries & problems

John Keats’ immensely creative life as a poet was also tragically short – he died in 1821 aged just twenty-five. Given the brevity of his life, it might be thought that his many biographers have uncovered everything that there is to be known about the poet and his life and times. Fortunately, however, that is not the case. This talk will explore some of the puzzles, mysteries, and problems that continue to surround the life and writings of this great Romantic poet. 

Professor Nicholas Roe is Wardlaw Professor of English Literature at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. He is the author of critically acclaimed biographies and studies including Wordsworth and Coleridge. The Radical Years (1988; 2018), John Keats and the Culture of Dissent (1995), The First Life of Leigh Hunt (2004) John Keats: A New Life (2012), and John Keats and the Perils of Posterity (2025).