- Howes, H.E. (2014). Fulling Linen, Haunting Clear Waters, and Crying Bitter Tears: Two Middle English Versions of Aelred of Rievaulx’s De institutione inclusarum. Florilegium, 31, pp. 139–164. doi:10.3138/flor.31.06.
- Howes, (2011). 'Sowrede’ Eyes and Obscured Meaning: ‘Wynnere and Wastoure’ as Spiritual Challenge. Marginalia, 16.
Contact details
Address
Northampton Square
London EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom
Personal links
About
Overview
Website: https://hettahowes.co.uk/
As well as a Senior Lecturer in Medieval and Early Modern Literature at City, University of London, I am a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker. I regularly present and contribute to broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and 4, as well as publications such as Times Literary Supplement and BBC History Extra. My first book, 'Transformative Waters in Medieval Literature', is now available: https://boydellandbrewer.com/9781843846123/transformative-waters-in-late-medieval-literature/
After studying for my BA and MPhil at the University of Cambridge, I joined Queen Mary in 2012 to begin my doctoral thesis. The project was supervised by Professor Julia Boffey and examined the role of water as a literary metaphor in late-medieval devotional prose, with a special emphasis on writings for and by women. After a one-year lectureship at Queen Mary I moved to City in September 2017.
I have published on a range of topics, including tropes of crying and cleansing in Aelred of Rievaulx’s spiritual treatise 'A Rule of Life for a Recluse', the relationship between fluids and emotions in medieval lyrics, and the role of the senses in fourteenth-century alliterative verse.
I am an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and I teach on a number of different modules on the BA and MA at City, including two research-led modules on women's writing throughout history.
PhD supervision: I welcome applications from prospective postgraduate students interested in late-medieval devotional literature, particularly writing by and for women; the history of the emotions; fluidity and transformation; modern preoccupations with the medieval world.
Qualifications
- Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Queen Mary, University of London, Jul 2017
- PhD, Queen Mary, University of London, United Kingdom, Sep 2012 – Jun 2016
- MPHil, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom, Sep 2011 – Jun 2012
- BA, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, Sep 2008 – Jun 2011
Administrative role
- Recruitment Officer for Department of English, City, University of London
Employment
- Senior Lecturer in Early Modern Literature, City, University of London, Sep 2017 – present
- Lecturer in medieval and early modern literature, Queen Mary, University of London, Sep 2016 – Aug 2017
- Teaching Associate, Royal Holloway University of London, Jan – May 2016
- Teaching Associate, Queen Mary, University of London, Sep 2013 – Jun 2016
Awards
- City University of London, Widening Participation Team (2019) Outstanding Staff Contribution
- City, University of London, School of Arts and Social Sciences Academic Impact Award (2019)
Nominated, shortlisted
Research
Research Interests
- Women's literary culture in the Middle Ages
- Environment as metaphor in late-medieval literature
- Modern preoccupations with the medieval
- History of the Emotions
- The medical humanities, especially sex difference in the Middle Ages
Forthcoming Publications
- 'Transformative Waters in Medieval Literature', due for publication with Boydell and Brewer in 2021
- ‘‘Make me a good woman’: reflections on becoming in a fifteenth-century prayer sequence’ (article in progress)
- ‘A hunt for the Nun of Watton in Late-Medieval Translations of 'De Institutione Inclusarum’ (article in progress)
Current Research
- Fluid imagery in medieval devotional writings by and for women
- New approaches to medieval water studies
- Medievalisms in Maria Davhana Headley's 'The Mere Wife'
- Solitude in medieval religious literature
Publications
Publications by category
Book
- Howes, Transformative Waters in Medieval Devotional Literature. Suffolk: Boydell and Brewer.
Chapter
- Howes, Adreynt in shennesse’: Blood, Shame and Contrition in ‘Quis est iste qui uenit de Edom?’ In Boffey, J. and Whitehead, C. (Eds.), The Middle English Lyric: New Approaches to Short Poems Boydell and Brewer.
Journal articles (2)
Other (3)
- Howes, H. Pathos in Late-Medieval Drama and Art: A Communicative Strategy, Gabriela Mazzon (Leiden: Brill, 2018), Emotions: History, Culture, Society (review).
- Howes, H. Water in Medieval Intellectual Culture: Case Studies from Twelfth-Century Monasticism (Turnhout: Brepols, 2017) James L. Smith, Journal of Medieval Monastic Studies, 2019 (review).
- Howes, H. Emotions and War: Medieval to Romantic Literature, ed. Downes et al (London: Palgrave, 2015), Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies, 2017 (review).
Professional activities
Events/conferences (11)
- Courtauld Gender and Sexuality Research Seminar, Violent Fluids: Feminist Histories of Blood. (Public lecture) (2020). Invited speaker.
Paper: And there came forth blood and water’: Fluid Reflections on Medieval Devotion, - Waterworks: Creative Approaches to Medieval Water Studies. (Workshop) (2019). Chair, Session/Day Chair and Organising Committee.
- International Medieval Congress. (2019). Invited speaker.
Paper: Making a Good Woman Out of a Manuscript - London Biennial Chaucer Conference: Chaucer and Europe. (Conference) (2019). Chair and Organising Committee.
- International Anchoritic Conference. Norwich (2019). Invited speaker.
Paper: Reading Beyond the Material: Reflections on ‘Becoming’ in a Fifteenth-Century Prayer Sequence - Northern Lights: Late Medieval Devotion to Saints from the North of England. (Conference) Lausanne (2019). Invited speaker.
Paper: Fluid Afterlives: A Hunt for the Nun of Watton in Late-Medieval Translations of 'De Institutione Inclusarum' - Press for Progress, Feminism and Medieval Studies Roundtable. (Public lecture) King's College, University of London (2018). Invited speaker.
- Women's Voices, Medieval and Early Modern. Queen Mary University of London (2017). Organising Committee.
- Research into the Medieval and Early Modern: Navigating Issues of Engagement. (Workshop) (2017). Organising Committee.
- Medieval Emotions, London Medieval Society. (Conference) (2017). Session/Day Chair and Organising Committee.
- Tears and Smiles Medieval to Early Modern. (Conference) Senate House, University of London (2015). Organising Committee.
Keynote lecture/speech
- Women, Water, Work. Troublesome Elements Conference, University of Leicester (2018).
Media appearance
- Places of Solitude. I was commissioned by the Wellcome Trust funded Pathologies of Solitude project at Queen Mary University of London to present an eight-episode podcast series on solitude. Much of this series was recorded during the 2020 lockdown, and includes an interview with the Archbishop. You can listen here: https://solitudes.qmul.ac.uk/podcasts/
Online articles (13)
- Piers Plowman in the twenty-first century. (2017). The Times Literary Supplement
- Review of 'A Medieval Woman's Companion', by Susan Signe Morrison. (2017). The Times Literary Supplement
- Beasts of Wonder: Reading Animals in the Middle Ages. (2016). BBC History Extra
- Heavenly Dew: Crying in the Middle Ages. (2015). BBC History Extra
- A Brief History of Medieval Magic. (2015). BBC History Extra
- Swamps and Bogs in Eighties Film and Literature. (2014). The Artifice
- Watery Offerings: Women and Water in the Middle Ages. (2014). The History of the Emotions Blog (QMUL)
- Mary Magdalene: Why Do People Want to Believe She’s a Sinner and a Prostitute? BBC History Extra
- Sociable Solitude in the Medieval Anchorhold. Solitudes Past and Present
- Medieval Drama and the Mystery Plays. British Library: Discovering Literature
- Arthurian Legends. British Library: Discovering Literature
- A Bloody Shame. History of Emotions Blog
- Lines of Blood and Baffled Eyes: Retelling Great Stories from a Female Perspective. Times Literary Supplement
Radio programmes (24)
- A Short History of Solitude: Retreat. BBC Radio 4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000m57l
- Arts & Ideas: New Thinking, A Feminist Take on Medieval History. BBC Radio 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000j35f
- Arts & Ideas: New Thinking, Science Fiction. BBC Radio 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p086zq4g
- Arts & Ideas: New Thinking, Women in Virtual Reality. BBC Radio 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p085mn2k
- Equal as We Are. BBC Radio 4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000f6t9
- Arts & Ideas: New Thinking, BBC/AHRC Research in Film Awards. BBC Radio 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07v5nkx
- Free Thinking: The Legacy of the Trojan War. BBC Radio 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000bg2k
- Free Thinking: Myth Making, Satire, and Caryl Churchill. BBC Radio 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07qqn2p
- Arts & Ideas: New Thinking, Places of Poetry and the Colonial Countryside. BBC Radio 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07q19kk
- Free Thinking: The Emotion of Now. BBC Radio 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00040wd
- Woman's Hour - Fleabag and women in comedy. BBC Radio 4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00040wd
- Proms Plus Talk: Swans. BBC Radio 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07k3qtg
- Arts & Ideas: New Thinking, Pregnancy Puzzles. BBC Radio 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07h3219
- Arts & Ideas: New Thinking, Neolithic Revelations. BBC Radio 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07jwntx
- Sunday Feature: A Unicorn Quest. BBC Radio 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00066np
- Late Night Woman's Hour - Crying. BBC Radio 4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p072mwsd
- When Greeks Flew Kites: Deadlock. BBC Radio 4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0002bb6
- Sunday Feature: Passion Meditation. BBC Radio 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06pqsqr
- The Essay: Welling Up, Women and Water in the Middle Ages. BBC Radio 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09v5ncr
- Woman's Hour - Female Role Models. BBC Radio 4 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09hp2dt
- Ecstasy, Carpe Diem: Free Thinking. BBC Radio 3 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08rsrlw
- Free Thinking Festival: New Generation Thinkers. BBC Radio 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08jb1mm
- Free Thinking: Medieval Influences on Harry Potter. BBC Radio 3 https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b099wz08
- Water. Footnotes, King's College London Radio https://www.mixcloud.com/footnotes/episode-6-water/