Prof Nicki Hitchcott

Prof Nicki Hitchcott

Head of the School of Modern Languages

Professor of French and African Studies

Phone
+44 (0)1334 46 3636
Email
n.hitchcott@st-andrews.ac.uk
Office
Room 210
Location
Buchanan
Office hours
By appointment

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Biography

I joined St ÌÇÐÄlogo in October 2016, having held a personal chair at the University of Nottingham. I attended a comprehensive school in Exeter before studying for my BA and PhD at UCL, and was the first person in my family to go to university.

Teaching

Honours modules: FR4161 Antillean Identities; FR4183 African Francophone Fiction;ÌýCO3020 Literature and Cultural Memory; CO4003 Issues in Cultural Studies; CO3021 Crossing the Mediterranean; CO4032 Bad Books; CO4031 Experiences of Exile; CO4030 Short Story.

Subhonours modules: FR2204 French Civilisation; FR2206 French Literature from 19th to 21st Centuries; CO1002 Staging the Political.Ìý

Postgraduate: ML5002/21 Literary and Cultural Theory; MLitt Postcolonial and World Literatures (School of English); MSc International Development Practice (Graduate School).Ìý

Research areas

I am a specialist in postcolonial literatures in French and English, particularly fiction from Africa. Funded by the AHRC, the British Academy, the Leverhulme Trust and the RSE, my research has focused on West African women's writing, migrant fiction, fictional responses to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, Belgian colonialism, and ecotexts.

I have published 12 books: 3 single-authored monographs, (2000), (2006), (2015) and 9 co-authored/co-edited volumes, along with over 50 articles and book chapters. My most recent co-edited book (with Nsah Mala, University of Cologne), , was published in 2025 by Liverpool University Press.

I am currently working on a new project,ÌýÌý(with Alice Urusaro U. Karekezi, University of Rwanda, and John D.Ìý McInally). This project is funded by the RSE.Ìý

From 2015 to 2018, I led the AHRC-funded project, in partnership with NGO the Aegis Trust and the Genocide Archive of Rwanda. In 2018, I was a finalist for the inaugural Wellcome Trust/AHRC Health Humanities Medal in the Category of Best International Research.

I have supervised 12 research degrees to successful completion on various aspects of francophone postcolonial studies. Of my former doctoral students, 6 have permanent academic jobs (at Lancaster, Melbourne, Newcastle, Trinity College Dublin, UCL and University College Cork), two of them now professors. I warmly welcome enquiries from potential PhD students in any area of francophone postcolonial studies.

PhD supervision

  • AsraÌýJafarey
  • MuhammadÌýRizwan
  • SophieÌýVernon

Selected publications

  • Open access
    Karekezi, A. U. U., Hitchcott, N. & McInally, J. D., 16 Aug 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies. Latest articles

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

  • Hitchcott, N., 30 Jul 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: African Studies Review. FirstView, p. 1-2

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Book/Film/Article review › peer-review

  • Open access
    Kelly, C., Anderson, M., Smith, H., Kousha, O., Hitchcott, N., Reddy, M. A. & Blaikie, A., 1 Feb 2025, In: Eye. 39, 2, p. 379–381 3 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

  • Mala, N. (Editor) & Hitchcott, N. (Editor), 11 Jul 2025, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. 293 p. (Francophone postcolonial studies; vol. New series, no. 16)

    Research output: Book/Report › Book

  • Open access
    McInally, J. D., Hitchcott, N. & Karekezi, A. U. U., 23 Oct 2025, In: Archives and Records. 47, 1, p. 69-87 19 p., 3.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

  • Hitchcott, N., 9 May 2025, TLS, The Times Literary Supplement, 6371, p. 20 1 p.

    Research output: Contribution to specialist publication › Book/Film/Article review

  • Mala, N. & Hitchcott, N., 11 Jul 2025, Ecotexts in the postcolonial francosphere. Mala, N. & Hitchcott, N. (eds.). Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, p. 1-18 (Francophone postcolonial studies; vol. New series, no. 16).

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

  • Open access
    Hitchcott, N., Karekezi, A. U. U. & McInally, J. D., 27 Dec 2024, (E-pub ahead of print) In: African Identities. Latest Articles, 17 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

  • Open access
    Karekezi, A. U. U. & Hitchcott, N., 5 Oct 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of African Cultural Studies. Latest articles, 16 p.

    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

  • Open access
    Hitchcott, N., 14 Nov 2022, Unfinished histories : empire and postcolonial resonance in Central Africa and Belgium. Fraiture, P.-P. (ed.). Leuven: Leuven University Press, p. 63-80 14 p.

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review

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