Baudelaire: Botanist of the Sidewalk – Professor Helen Abbott Poet in the City · Interview with Professor Helen Abbott at Baudelaire - Botanist of the Sidewalk As Professor of Modern Languages at the University of Birmingham, Helen Abbott specialises in nineteenth-century French poetry and music. Her research explores ways of writing about word-music relationships in poetic language, in critical theories, and using digital methodologies. Her particular focus is the work of (post-) romantic and symbolist poets including Gautier, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud, Villiers de l’Isle-Adam, and Mallarmé. She is leading the Baudelaire Song Project. This interview was conducted on 22nd November 2017 at Kings Place by Imogen Hamilton-Jones at Baudelaire–Botanist of the Sidewalk.