The book, which was recently released, contains a collection of essays written about women’s speech in the Middle Ages, a time when women were directed to remain silent.

From the publisher’s website:

“As this volume shows, such gendered exhortations to silence were often more rhetorical than literal. The contributions range widely… But all demonstrate the ways in which silence, rather than being a mere absence of speech, frequently comprised a form of gendered articulation and proto-feminist point of resistance. They thus provide an apt commemoration and celebration of the deeply innovative work of Catherine Innes-Parker (1956-2019), the respected feminist scholar and a pioneer of this important field of study.”

Dr. Brown’s essay, “Speaking Beyond the Anchorhold in Richard Rolle’s Form of Living,” is one of fourteen pieces included in the book.

At MMC, Dr. Brown teaches many classes in the Department of Writing, Literature, and Language, including History of the English Language and Dragons, Knights, and Damsels: The Middle Ages. She has published a number of books – most recently, Manuscript Culture and Medieval Devotional Traditions: Essays in Honour of Michael G. Sargent (published in 2021) and Fruit of the Orchard: Catherine of Siena in Late Medieval and Early Modern England (published in 2018).

Women and Devotional Literature in the Middle Ages is available now.

Congratulations, Dr. Brown!