Just yesterday, The Atlantic published an article by Shannon Chamberlain about fan fiction and sexuality. The article is a smart piece, linking fan fiction practices in the eighteenth century with current pop culture trends. A previous iteration of the article was titled "The Surprising 18th-Century Origins of Fan Fiction," which betrays some of the author's … Continue reading A Response to Shannon Chamberlain on Fan Fiction
I've been thinking for a while about posting my talk from Kalamazoo 2019, and I've finally gotten around to doing that. I was invited to present about my work on apocrypha for a session titled "Old English Homilies I: New Discoveries, New Insight," sponsored by the Dictionary of Old English (DOE) and Electronic Corpus of … Continue reading Preaching Apocrypha in Early England: Historiographic Currents
My book The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and the Nativity of Mary is now available from Cascade Books! I've written about these texts and my work on them before, and I'd like to take the opportunity of the book's release to talk a bit about translation. I've been interested in both the practice of translation and … Continue reading Translating the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew
It's no secret that many people who love the Middle Ages also love dragons. We find dragons in literature like the Old English poem Beowulf, Norse sagas, saints' lives, romances, Arthurian legends, even historical chronicles. We also find dragons in modern fantasy literature inspired by medieval culture, like J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, Ursula … Continue reading Dragons in the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew
I'm pleased to say that I have an article forthcoming in the December issue of the Bulletin for the Study of Religion, titled "A History of the Study of Apocrypha in Anglo-Saxon England." I was invited to submit this contribution because of the publication of my recent book, Preaching Apocrypha in Anglo-Saxon England. In my article … Continue reading Forthcoming: “A History of the Study of Apocrypha in Anglo-Saxon England”
It's International Translation Day! Not coincidentally, September 30 is also the feast day of Saint Jerome (347-420), who translated the Bible into Latin (known as the Vulgate), as it was known for hundreds of years in medieval Western Europe. Jerome is also the patron saint of translators because of his reputation. Jerome's legacy as a … Continue reading Prefaces to the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and Nativity of Mary
[This post is part 3 in a series of reflections about my book, Preaching Apocrypha in Anglo-Saxon England (order here); read part 1 here and part 2 here.] As discussed in my previous posts about Preaching Apocrypha in Anglo-Saxon England, I've been thinking about the project that has become this book for over 9 years. In that time, my ideas and … Continue reading Preaching Apocrypha: Postscript
[This post is part 2 in a series of reflections about my book, Preaching Apocrypha in Anglo-Saxon England (order here); read part 1 here and part 3 here.] After I finished my PhD, settled into my first job, and started revising my dissertation into a book, I pulled out all of the comments I had received from … Continue reading Preaching Apocrypha: Revisions
[This post is part 1 in a series of reflections about my book, Preaching Apocrypha in Anglo-Saxon England (order here); read part 2 here and part 3 here.] My book Preaching Apocrypha in Anglo-Saxon England will be out from the University of Toronto Press in July (pre-order at that link for 25% off!), so lately I've been thinking about the project as … Continue reading Preaching Apocrypha: Beginnings
This post is essentially a teaser for my upcoming presentation at the International Congress on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo next week. I'll be presenting a paper titled "The Afterlife of the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew" on session 41, "The Scripturesque Middle Ages: Uses/Reception of Apocrypha along the Medieval North Sea," organized by Stephen Hopkins, in Sangren 1320, … Continue reading The Afterlife of the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew Preview
Brandon W. Hawk 