Today I had the honor and pleasure of presenting a review response to the recently published book The Oxford Handbook of the Apocrypha, edited by Gerbern S. Oegema (2021), as part of a Virtual Book Review event through the Enoch Seminar. Below are the comments I shared with thoughts about the volume and some avenues … Continue reading Response to The Oxford Handbook of the Apocrypha
When I learned about the publication of The Jewish Annotated Apocrypha, I was thrilled. Edited by Jonathan Klawans and Lawrence M. Wills, this is an excellent volume and worth owning for any scholar of early Judaism and early Christianity. So I decided to write up some thoughts about it. The editors emphasize a few ways … Continue reading Review of The Jewish Annotated Apocrypha
This post is meant as a follow-up to my previous thoughts about medievalists telling medieval stories. In that piece, I begin by considering a video game and end with reflections on the larger implications for storytelling about the Middle Ages. After writing it, I got to thinking about other medieval video games, so decided to … Continue reading Bonus Round: “Medieval” Games on Steam
Showing this month at the The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, is the play King Elizabeth. Written and directed by the Gamm's Artistic Director, Tony Estrella, King Elizabeth is a 21st-century adaptation of Friedrich Schiller's 18th-century Mary Stuart, about the imposing 16th-century Queen Elizabeth I of England and Mary, Queen of Scots. The play stars Jeanine Kane … Continue reading King Elizabeth and Identity Politics
I recently had the pleasure of reading Kathleen E. Kennedy's Medieval Hackers (Brooklyn, NY, 2014)--available in both paperback and an open access ebook through punctum books--and want to offer a brief review here. In short: I recommend this book, which should appeal to a wide audience of medievalists, early modernists, media studies specialists, as well as those interested in the … Continue reading Review of Kathleen E. Kennedy’s Medieval Hackers
Over the last several weeks, I've been reading the long-awaited, recently published Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, by J. R. R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien (CT). Of course, the internet has been abuzz about this release for quite a while, and reviews have shown up here and there. I decided early in my reading that … Continue reading Review of Tolkien’s Beowulf
Many scholars and teachers of the Bible in the medieval period know that a general introduction to the subject is hard to find. There is, of course, the monumental Cambridge History of the Bible (volume 2), as well Beryl Smalley's The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages, which remains a landmark, thought it focuses mainly on the twelfth … Continue reading Review of Frans van Liere’s An Introduction to the Medieval Bible
In Secret Scriptures Revealed: A New Introduction to the Christian Apocrypha (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2013), Tony Burke offers an excellent tour for all those interested in the subject. The book presents a lucid, accessible introduction appropriate to newcomers as well as anyone looking for a big-picture approach to the subject. Burke demonstrates clear knowledge … Continue reading Review of Tony Burke’s Secret Scriptures Revealed
Brandon W. Hawk 