I'm still in the prelim stage of thinking about a PhD...My question is : where do I start? Literature review? Contact potential supervisor? Sorry if this question has been asked a million times before!
Oh I'm in Australia and wanting to focus on English lit.

THINK OF AN AREA OF RESEARCH THAT HAS NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE OR A NEW INTERPRETATION THEREOF. THEN Contact Sup with it first. When you eventually start, the lit review will be the first thing /s/he/ gets you to do.

I would also suggest to prepare a research plan including the interest/motivation for that topic and then to apply (CV, academic redord and so on) at potential supervisors in that field that work in a similar direction.

But worth contacting the Sup first INFORMALLY before any official application, then they will tell you if you don't know what you're talking about. Great time saver.

Hi sivvy

Making informal contact with a supervisor is definitely a good idea. Most English Lit academics will have an institutional web-page including details of the sorts of projects they're interested in supervising.

I'd send a polite email with a brief description of your interests (and perhaps a little bit about your experience, including undergraduate or MA dissertation topics). It's also nice to say why you think they might be a good supervisor - you don't need to fawn on their research / reputation, but you can say why their work / interests are appropriate to your project.

Don't worry if you don't hear back straight away - most academics will be pretty busy this time of year.

There's nothing wrong with doing a bit of preliminary 'research' around your topic as well. I wouldn't try and begin a comprehensive literature review at this stage (that's something your supervisor will be able to advise you with when the time comes) but you can take a look at some of the key critical texts.

Googling your prospective topic can also be quite handy - that'll probably bring up one or two relevant critical works, along with relevant scholars and perhaps even some other PhD students working on related areas.

You can mention anything interesting you find in an email to a potential supervisor if you think it's relevant and will help them understand your ideas.

Hope that helps a wee bit - good luck!

Mark