Dr María José Blanco is a senior lecturer and researcher at King’s College London, specializing in contemporary Spanish women writers and the genre of life-writing. Her work explores the narratives and experiences of Spanish women authors, illuminating their contributions to literature and cultural discourse. Her research delves into themes of identity, memory, and agency, highlighting how life-writing serves as a powerful medium for self-expression and social commentary.

She has been a member of the Spanish Department and the Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Department and the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at King's College London since 2008. She has worked as a lecturer in other universities: University College London; Royal Holloway University of London; IGRS, School of Advanced Study and Queen Mary University of London. She has collaborates with the Spanish Embassy, Instituto Cervantes, Institut Ramon Llull and Instituto Camoes organising seminar series, conferences and talks.

She is a member of the Centre for the Study of Contemporary Women’s Writing’s and convenes the Spanish Seminars and Reading Group. Maria-José is also member of the Motherhood in Post-1968 European Literature Network. She has been Managing Editor of the Journal of Romance Studies.

Research Interests

• Spanish Contemporary women writers
• Life-writing
• Motherhood and grandmotherhood

Teaching

• Travel Writing in Spain
• Memory
• The body in women's literature

Selected Publications

• Maria-José Blanco and Claire Williams, Feminine Plural: Women in Transition in the Luso-Hispanic World (Forthcoming, Peter Lang, 2025)
• Maria-José Blanco and Claire Williams, Women in Transition: Crossing Boundaries, Crossing Borders (Routledge, 2021)
• Maria-José Blanco and Claire Williams, Feminine Singular: Women Growing Up Through Life-Writing in the Luso-Hispanic World (Peter Lang, 2017 and 2021)
• Maria-José Blanco & Ricarda Vidal (eds) The Power of Death: Contemporary Reflections on Death in Western Society (Berghahn, 2014 and 2017) 
• Maria-José Blanco López de Lerma, Life Writing in Carmen Martin Gaite's Cuadernos de todo and her novels of the 1990s (Tamesis, 2013)