On Tuesday 8  to Thursday 10 September 2026, our Lecturer in Old and Middle English Literature Dr Laura Varnam ran the annual Gender & Medieval Studies conference at Univ on the topic of ‘Gender & Creativity.’

More than fifty scholars and creative practitioners from the UK, Switzerland, France, Germany, Iceland and beyond came together to share their research and artistic work, from storytellers and cartoonists to zine-makers, poets, visual artists and performers. The conference participants explored creativity not only in the intersectional gender identities of their medieval texts and subjects- including Icelandic sagas, Old English saints’ lives, The Book of Margery Kempe and the work of Sufi poet Amir Khusraw- but they also drew on their own creative practices as a mode of criticism in their research.

‘Creative Criticism’ is a burgeoning field in the Humanities and as co-founder of the Guild of Medievalist Makers in 2025 (with Dr Kristen Haas Curtis and Dr Eleanor Baker), Laura was keen to make space for a variety of contributions to the conference in addition to traditional lectures and papers. A key element here was an exhibition of creative work, curated by Laura’s graduate assistant Brooklyn Arnot, and a creative showcase or ‘open mic’ session in which delegates contributed storytelling performances, poetry, video artwork, creative non-fiction, singing, and more. The conference also showcased the work of film-makers Mirabelle Dominé-Walley and Luke Walker who are currently making an independent feature film called Into the Mystic inspired by the fifteenth-century Book of Margery Kempe.

Laura also ran a raffle of participants’ donated creative work (including embroidery, textile work, crocheted blankets, & visual art) which raised over £320 for Blossom LGBT, a charity that supports young LGBTQIA+ people, with whom keynote speaker Dr Teresa Pilgrim has worked closely.

Laura is very grateful for the generous financial support of the following for the success of the conference: Univ’s Overbrook Research Fund, the English Faculty at Oxford, the New York Medieval Society, the Society for Medieval Feminist Scholarship, the publishers Boydell & Brewer, and Brepols, and the University of Oxford’s John Fell Fund.

The John Fell Fund has enabled Laura to establish a research network entitled ‘Creating Medieval Criticism Now’ which will enable the conversations about creative-critical medieval studies to continue. The first of these conversations will take place at Univ on 28 October at 5pm in the Goodhart Seminar Room on ‘The Forms of Criticism’, featuring poet Susie Campbell, historical novelist Nik Gunn, and cartoonist/illustrator Esther McManus. (All are welcome to attend, please email Laura to register: laura.varnam@univ.ox.ac.uk).

Published: 25 September 2026

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