Debra Benita Shaw – The Conversation

Honford Star

January 20, 2026

Come Down to a Lower Place – a Lovecraftian Korean tale about the oppression of female workers and their bodies

Debra Benita Shaw, University of East London

Born from the misogynistic and racist imaginings of HP Lovecraft, a new Korean monster fuelled by feminine rage counters this legacy.

Climate Prize for Fiction

May 12, 2025

Louisa Egbunike, Durham University; Christopher Morash, Trinity College Dublin; Debra Benita Shaw, University of East London; Denise Baden, University of Southampton, and Sam Illingworth, Edinburgh Napier University

From a longlist of nine, five novels have been shortlisted for the 2025 Climate Fiction Prize. Our academics review the finalists.

Canva

December 16, 2024

Manjeet Ridon, De Montfort University; Alice Kelly, University of Warwick; Ankhi Mukherjee, University of Oxford; Debra Benita Shaw, University of East London; Edward Sugden, King's College London; Emily Zobel Marshall, Leeds Beckett University; Jane McBride, University of Galway; Orlaith Darling, University College Dublin; Sarah Annes Brown, Anglia Ruskin University, and Scarlett Baron, UCL

These are the ten books that made the most lasting impression on our expert reviewers

Samantha Harvey at the Booker prize award’s ceremony. Booker Prize

November 13, 2024

Debra Benita Shaw, University of East London

A slim but searing novel about an international group of people living on the International Space Station.

Booker Prize Foundation

November 6, 2024

Manjeet Ridon, De Montfort University; Debra Benita Shaw, University of East London; Diana Wallace, University of South Wales; Emily Zobel Marshall, Leeds Beckett University; Inés Gregori Labarta, Lancaster University, and Sarah Trott, York St John University

From a longlist of 13, six novels have been shortlisted for the 2024 Booker prize. Our academics review the finalists.

A couple have been chosen to help humanity survive the coming collapse of the planet. Amazon Studios

October 17, 2023

Debra Benita Shaw, University of East London

Set in the not-so-distant future, Foe poses questions about humanity and what it means to be human in the face of environmental collapse.