Louisa de Paula is a graduate student at the University of Houston earning her MA in English. Having also earned her bachelor’s in English with a concentration in literature and minor in religious studies, Louisa plans on using her education, experience in research, and publishing experience from previous internships to pursue a career in book publishing. 

 

Louisa has been contributing to The 1771 Project since 2022 and has seen the project grow into what it has become today. She began her work by helping other fellow research interns in curating detailed personographies about several writers from the 18th century and researching various texts, titles, and genres published in 1771. As the project has grown, she has worked alongside the group with the data “cleaning” of the texts within the project’s collection and the brainstorming of the designing and development of the project’s website. 

Louisa’s personal literary interests primarily lie in the gothic genres, specifically within the 19th century. Some of her favorite titles include Stoker’s Dracula, Le Fanu’s Carmilla, and Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Grey, with Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles as an honorable mention. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hunting for antique furniture, drawing, and playing her harp.