Dinah Birch is a literary academic and critic, with a particular interest in the Victorian period. She regularly contributes review articles to the London Review of Books and Times Literary Supplement, while her work as a broadcaster includes a number of Sky Arts documentaries on literary subjects. She inaugurated and served as the Director of the University of Liverpool’s annual literary festival, ran an annual short story competition for students and staff of the university, and edited an annual collection of short fiction.