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Wilde Ferris

Biography

Wilde Ferris is a trans non-binary lesbian and PhD candidate at Queen’s University. Wilde’s research explores Queerness and religious repression in Victorian ghost stories and how this connects to current North American Christo-fascism within current political legislation. Wilde also often explores Queerness and trans identity in other new medias, including films, comics, video games, or whatever happens to catch their eye at any moment. They have a passion for teaching and creating an accessible and inclusive classroom. When they are not reading, they can be found playing Stardew Valley beside their large orange cat, Calzone.

Research Interests

Victorian Literature, Queer and trans studies, the gothic, new media, video games, political studies, religious studies, Christian evangelicalism, popular culture, horror

Selected Publications
  • Ferris, Wilde. “Kiss Your Crewmate Goodbye: Queerness as Piracy Through the Death Drive in Our Flag Means Death.” Queer Identities in Popular Culture: Essays on Representation Since 2010. Edited by Laura J. Getty and Josef Vice. McFarland & Company, 2026. 163-78.
  • Ferris, Wilde. “Overhead Isolation: The Player and the Panopticon in 11 Bit Studios’ Frostpunk.” GAME LAB @ QUEEN’S U. February 2026, https://queensgamelab.wordpress.com/publications/.
Awards and Recognition
Greyson Jones Memorial Scholarship, 2025
R. Samuel McLaughlin Fellowship, 2022-2023
Graduate Supervision

Graduate Supervisor

Additional Information

Conferences

  • VSWAC 2026: "Is Lucy’s Sexuality a Grave? Haunting Queer Identity and Repression in Villette"
  • CGSA 2025: Fictionalizing the Victim: When the Historic Spectre Becomes Spectacle in Du Lac and Fey: Dance of Death
  • ACCUTE 2025: Stains of the Self: Leslie Feinberg, Minnie Bruce Pratt, and the Formation of Queer Identity
  • Works In Progress 2023: Kiss Your Crewmate Goodbye: Queerness as Piracy Through the Death Drive in Our Flag Means Death

Invited Talks and Guest Lectures

  • Jack the Ripper and the Creation of True Crime - Guest Lecture, March 2 2026
  • The Fun of Being a Home: Fun Home Chapter 6 - Guest Lecture, October 22 2025
  • Queerness: Resistance Through Art - Invited talk at the Aids Committee of Durham Region, October 11 2025
  • Overhead Isolation: The Player and the Panopticon in 11 Bit Studios’ Frostpunk - Invited Talk at the Queen's University GAME lab, February 11 2025
  • Watching Queerly: Queerness in Media -  Invited talk at the Aids Committee of Durham Region, September 21 2024
  • Supernatural Subversion: “The Canterville Ghost”, Satire, and Queer Monstrosity - Guest Lecture, September 18 2024
  • Wilkie Collins’ Short Stories - Guest Lecture, November 28 2023
  • Wilkie Collins and Sensation Fiction - Guest Lecture, November 24 2023
  • The Spectacle of Spectres: The Ghost of Jack the Ripper in From Hell and “The Jack the Ripper Tour with Ripper Vision” - Queen's Special Topic Presentation, May 2 2023
  • Lord Alfred Tennyson: Hearing Homosexuality - Guest Lecture, February 3 2023
Areas of Study
Gender and Sexuality Studies
Religious Studies
Genres and Forms
Graphic Literature
Literary Theory and Criticism
Popular and Genre Fiction

Department of English Literature and Creative Writing, Queen's University

Watson Hall
49 Bader Lane
Kingston ON K7L 3N6
Canada

Telephone (613) 533-2153

Undergraduate

Graduate

Queen's University is situated on traditional Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe territory.