Over the years, I have taught Old and Middle English, first at Greyfriars, and more recently to visiting students at Wycliffe Hall. My research focuses mainly on vernacular religious and devotional texts of the late Middle Ages, as for example, ‘The Manere of Good Lyvyng’ which is addressed to a nun and provides her with ‘exhortacions’ on vices, virtues, dreams, etc.

I am currently preparing (with colleagues) an edition of the Middle English translation of Mechthild of Hackeborn’s ‘Liber specialis gratiae’ as well as an edition of the Old French Life of Godric. Having realised that there are many religious texts in the vernacular that are still barely known (for example, ‘Le dyalogue de la Duchesse de Bourgogne a Jhesu Crist’, written for Margaret of York in the late fifteenth century), I am working with a Regent’s colleague on a project to make them more visible to scholars and others.

Apart from my research, I enjoy the works of more modern writers, Charles Ferdinand Ramuz and John Cowper Powys (who both deserve better recognition) have particularly caught my attention. I have also recently discovered medieval Japanese literature, especially the women writers of the Heian period.

I hold a Licence ès lettres from the University of Geneva (1987), and degrees in English from Lincoln College, Oxford (MPhil, 1990 and DPhil, 1997).

Selected Quote

“Le cœur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point.” Blaise Pascal, 'Pensées'
  • Selected Publications