Dr Laura Varnam
@drlauravarnam.bsky.social
Tutor in English Lit at Univ, Oxford. Medievalist. Poet. She/her. Co-founder @guildmedmak. Church as Sacred Space (2018). Encountering Margery Kempe (2021). Primers Volume Seven: Grendel’s Mother Bites Back (2024). Next books on Du Maurier, and Beowulf.
Since it’s that time of year, resharing my advice post on how to write PhD proposals! drlauravarnam.wordpress.com/2023/06/02/t...
Top Tips: How to Write a PhD Proposal
It’s been a while since I’ve written a blogpost for the Resources for Grads and ECRs section of my website and I was reminded by a chat with a current MSt student here in Oxford that a …
drlauravarnam.wordpress.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Since it’s that time of year, resharing my advice post on how to write PhD proposals! drlauravarnam.wordpress.com/2023/06/02/t...
Poetry pals! Can anyone recommend any good epistolary poems? Thank you!
November 25, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Poetry pals! Can anyone recommend any good epistolary poems? Thank you!
Reposted by Dr Laura Varnam
Quite possibly the most empowering thing ever written about overcoming self-doubt and creative block www.themarginalian.org/2016/09/09/d...
Do: Sol LeWitt’s Electrifying Letter of Advice on Self-Doubt, Overcoming Creative Block, and Being an Artist
“You belong in the most secret part of you. Don’t worry about cool, make your own uncool.”
www.themarginalian.org
November 25, 2025 at 5:47 AM
Quite possibly the most empowering thing ever written about overcoming self-doubt and creative block www.themarginalian.org/2016/09/09/d...
This is so fascinating! Huge thanks to Becca for writing it for us! Check it out, medievalists & poets! 🌊🐟
'I crumbed together my research into North Sea fish species, North Atlantic trade, and late-medieval environmental crisis around the medieval North Sea basin with my embodied experience of walking in the fens south of Grimsby.'
Our latest MMM blog post by poet Becca Drake is out now! 👇
Our latest MMM blog post by poet Becca Drake is out now! 👇
Meet a Medievalist Maker: Becca Drake — The Guild of Medievalist Makers
“ Meet a Medievalist Maker ” is an ongoing series of blog posts introducing our members and the work they are doing. Each post is organized around our Four P’s: a project they are working on...
www.guildmedmak.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:20 PM
This is so fascinating! Huge thanks to Becca for writing it for us! Check it out, medievalists & poets! 🌊🐟
Reposted by Dr Laura Varnam
Þe snawe snitered ful snart þat snayped þe wylde…
(The snow fell sharp as sleet that nipped at the wild beasts) SGGK, l.2003
It’s that time of year again when the Gawain-poet’s alliterative mastery of the North-west midlands dialect really comes alive. (Linocut my own - appears in b/w in my book)
(The snow fell sharp as sleet that nipped at the wild beasts) SGGK, l.2003
It’s that time of year again when the Gawain-poet’s alliterative mastery of the North-west midlands dialect really comes alive. (Linocut my own - appears in b/w in my book)
November 19, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Þe snawe snitered ful snart þat snayped þe wylde…
(The snow fell sharp as sleet that nipped at the wild beasts) SGGK, l.2003
It’s that time of year again when the Gawain-poet’s alliterative mastery of the North-west midlands dialect really comes alive. (Linocut my own - appears in b/w in my book)
(The snow fell sharp as sleet that nipped at the wild beasts) SGGK, l.2003
It’s that time of year again when the Gawain-poet’s alliterative mastery of the North-west midlands dialect really comes alive. (Linocut my own - appears in b/w in my book)
Reposted by Dr Laura Varnam
I chose seven poems from new books I’ve been enjoying recently. They’re quite wintry and Welsh substack.com/home/post/p-...
Pinks #38: A Crop of Frost
A week of poems from books I'm enjoying
substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 8:10 PM
I chose seven poems from new books I’ve been enjoying recently. They’re quite wintry and Welsh substack.com/home/post/p-...
Catherine & I had a lot of fun running this workshop on Creativity in the Classroom at the ‘Chaucer our Contemporary’ colloquium last month. Check out the blogpost for suggestions of activities from a wordhoard task to re-voicing the tales, and @hellomizk.bsky.social’s six-word adaptation comic!
'The provisionality and dynamism of play enables creative thinking and dispenses with fears of failure'.
Read our new blogpost discussing the 'Creativity in the Classroom' workshop run by @drlauravarnam.bsky.social and @cathamclarke.bsky.social at the 'Chaucer our Contemporary' event 👇
Read our new blogpost discussing the 'Creativity in the Classroom' workshop run by @drlauravarnam.bsky.social and @cathamclarke.bsky.social at the 'Chaucer our Contemporary' event 👇
‘Creativity in the Classroom’ workshop: GuMM at ‘Chaucer our Contemporary’ event 4/10/25 — The Guild of Medievalist Makers
Write-up of activities from the ‘Creativity in the Classroom’ workshop at the ‘Chaucer our Contemporary’ colloquium (Laura Varnam and Catherine Clarke).
www.guildmedmak.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Catherine & I had a lot of fun running this workshop on Creativity in the Classroom at the ‘Chaucer our Contemporary’ colloquium last month. Check out the blogpost for suggestions of activities from a wordhoard task to re-voicing the tales, and @hellomizk.bsky.social’s six-word adaptation comic!
LMH doing fantastic work there 😆
I reckon you can learn a lot about the atmosphere in various Oxford colleges by looking at what they choose to name their cats (courtesy of @oxfordclarion.bsky.social ). We should all aspire to the energy of a Teabag, Isambard Kitten Brunel, or an Admiral Flapjack
oxfordclarion.uk/college-cats...
oxfordclarion.uk/college-cats...
November 21, 2025 at 6:28 PM
LMH doing fantastic work there 😆
Reposted by Dr Laura Varnam
📢 #CfP #medievalsky #OldEnglish
📜Beowulf & Circulations Conference
📲Details: cemasorbonne.org
🏫Centre d’Études Médiévales Anglaises (Sorbonne Université)
🗣️Keynotes: Irina Dumitrescu (Universität Bonn) & Francis Leneghan (Oxford University).
📅March 13-14, 2026
⏰Submission deadline: 10 January, 2026‼️
📜Beowulf & Circulations Conference
📲Details: cemasorbonne.org
🏫Centre d’Études Médiévales Anglaises (Sorbonne Université)
🗣️Keynotes: Irina Dumitrescu (Universität Bonn) & Francis Leneghan (Oxford University).
📅March 13-14, 2026
⏰Submission deadline: 10 January, 2026‼️
(no title)
CEMA
cemasorbonne.org
November 21, 2025 at 12:59 PM
📢 #CfP #medievalsky #OldEnglish
📜Beowulf & Circulations Conference
📲Details: cemasorbonne.org
🏫Centre d’Études Médiévales Anglaises (Sorbonne Université)
🗣️Keynotes: Irina Dumitrescu (Universität Bonn) & Francis Leneghan (Oxford University).
📅March 13-14, 2026
⏰Submission deadline: 10 January, 2026‼️
📜Beowulf & Circulations Conference
📲Details: cemasorbonne.org
🏫Centre d’Études Médiévales Anglaises (Sorbonne Université)
🗣️Keynotes: Irina Dumitrescu (Universität Bonn) & Francis Leneghan (Oxford University).
📅March 13-14, 2026
⏰Submission deadline: 10 January, 2026‼️
Our @guildmedmak.bsky.social co-founder @hellomizk.bsky.social smashing it at the weekend!
Had such a great great great time at Thought Bubble today and looking forward to more fun tomorrow!
November 20, 2025 at 6:53 AM
Our @guildmedmak.bsky.social co-founder @hellomizk.bsky.social smashing it at the weekend!
As well as giving new life to old books, @backlisted.bsky.social creates wonderful friendships! I so enjoyed having a virtual coffee with my dear friend across the pond @valarie.bsky.social last night! ☕️🥰
November 19, 2025 at 7:21 AM
As well as giving new life to old books, @backlisted.bsky.social creates wonderful friendships! I so enjoyed having a virtual coffee with my dear friend across the pond @valarie.bsky.social last night! ☕️🥰
It was so much fun! Thanks for having us, Blackwell’s!
Massive shout out to @blackwelloxford.bsky.social for hosting the Ox launch of Wastelands @guillemotpress.bsky.social on Sun. Wonderful audience in a beautiful venue. Also thanks to my guest @drlauravarnam.bsky.social who blew us away with her powerful, moving poetry @ninearchespress.bsky.social
November 18, 2025 at 8:47 PM
It was so much fun! Thanks for having us, Blackwell’s!
Such a thrill to join @susiecampbell.bsky.social at Blackwells on Sunday for the Oxford launch of Susie’s amazing new book WASTELANDS. We had such a great chat with Kate McLoughlin abt all things medieval & modern. (And this action shot of me is crying out for a caption competition!! Thanks Teresa!)
November 18, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Such a thrill to join @susiecampbell.bsky.social at Blackwells on Sunday for the Oxford launch of Susie’s amazing new book WASTELANDS. We had such a great chat with Kate McLoughlin abt all things medieval & modern. (And this action shot of me is crying out for a caption competition!! Thanks Teresa!)
Look forward to hearing your thoughts, Gordon!
Sunday reading and Sunday listening. Having been set straight by @andrewmale.bsky.social, @iammilliam.bsky.social and @drlauravarnam.bsky.social on @backlisted.bsky.social that this is not a romance, I have decided to put aside my prior misgivings and read Wuthering Heights.
November 16, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Look forward to hearing your thoughts, Gordon!
Reposted by Dr Laura Varnam
I've written about mead and its popular perception for The Conversation. theconversation.com/the-truth-ab... Mildly concerned that by pointing out that the Vikings (probably) didn't drink (much) mead, I will have annoyed all the re-enactors, many of whom have swords oh dear.
The truth about Vikings and mead might disappoint modern enthusiasts
The standard drink was far more likely to be ale.
theconversation.com
November 15, 2025 at 8:14 AM
I've written about mead and its popular perception for The Conversation. theconversation.com/the-truth-ab... Mildly concerned that by pointing out that the Vikings (probably) didn't drink (much) mead, I will have annoyed all the re-enactors, many of whom have swords oh dear.
Come see Susie, Kate, and I on Sunday at Blackwell’s!
Booking link www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1668864280... (last few tickets!) @guillemotpress.bsky.social @blackwelloxford.bsky.social @drlauravarnam.bsky.social
November 14, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Come see Susie, Kate, and I on Sunday at Blackwell’s!
Hwæt! Love my new #Beowulf inspired artworks by brilliant former student Raven! Check out her Etsy shop for more designs, including Julian of Norwich and #Chaucer inspired pieces www.etsy.com/shop/imitati...
November 13, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Hwæt! Love my new #Beowulf inspired artworks by brilliant former student Raven! Check out her Etsy shop for more designs, including Julian of Norwich and #Chaucer inspired pieces www.etsy.com/shop/imitati...
I really like Meyer’s translation that breaks the poem down into lyric poems.
"HEY now hear"
Beowulf: A Translation, 2012
Thomas Meyer 🇬🇧
Beowulf: A Translation, 2012
Thomas Meyer 🇬🇧
November 11, 2025 at 3:16 PM
I really like Meyer’s translation that breaks the poem down into lyric poems.
The PH Wodehouse of Beowulfs!
"What ho!"
Beowulf, a New Verse Translation for Fireside and Classroom, 1923
William Ellery Leonard 🇬🇧
Beowulf, a New Verse Translation for Fireside and Classroom, 1923
William Ellery Leonard 🇬🇧
November 11, 2025 at 3:15 PM
The PH Wodehouse of Beowulfs!
Reposted by Dr Laura Varnam
Just a few days left until @thoughtbubbleuk.bsky.social ! I’ll be at Table C12a in the Comixology Hall and also hosting a Saturday panel on comics and medieval texts (SWOON). I’ll have copies of a new book and some other fun stuff for you, so say hello!
November 11, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Just a few days left until @thoughtbubbleuk.bsky.social ! I’ll be at Table C12a in the Comixology Hall and also hosting a Saturday panel on comics and medieval texts (SWOON). I’ll have copies of a new book and some other fun stuff for you, so say hello!
This is a fantastic post from @jonathanfruoco.bsky.social 👏
'Translating Chaucer is a strange and humbling act. It’s like listening through centuries of static to a voice that is both foreign and familiar, comic and solemn, earnest and ironic.'
Jonathan Fruoco writes about his experience translating Chaucer for our Meet a Medievalist Maker blogpost series👇
Jonathan Fruoco writes about his experience translating Chaucer for our Meet a Medievalist Maker blogpost series👇
Meet a Medievalist Maker: Jonathan Fruoco — The Guild of Medievalist Makers
“ Meet a Medievalist Maker ” is an ongoing series of blog posts introducing our members and the work they are doing. Each post is organized around our Four P’s: a project they are working on...
www.guildmedmak.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:05 PM
This is a fantastic post from @jonathanfruoco.bsky.social 👏
Reposted by Dr Laura Varnam
The second poem in PERVERSE 9E is 'It Is Voice' by Philip Gross (@vaikuspg.bsky.social). Read all five poems in this section here: perverse.substack.com/p/perverse-9e
November 11, 2025 at 8:55 AM
The second poem in PERVERSE 9E is 'It Is Voice' by Philip Gross (@vaikuspg.bsky.social). Read all five poems in this section here: perverse.substack.com/p/perverse-9e
Reposted by Dr Laura Varnam
Senior Librarian role in Oxford👇 www.asc.ox.ac.uk/fellow-libra...
Fellow Librarian | All Souls College
www.asc.ox.ac.uk
November 10, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Senior Librarian role in Oxford👇 www.asc.ox.ac.uk/fellow-libra...
Absolutely fantastic night rockin’ along to the Status Quo tribute band Break the Rules 🤘🎸 They were even joined by original Quo drummer John Coghlan for a couple of numbers! 🥁 Went with my Dad and it was brilliant. (We reckon we’ve seen the original Quo 20+ times together!!)
November 9, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Absolutely fantastic night rockin’ along to the Status Quo tribute band Break the Rules 🤘🎸 They were even joined by original Quo drummer John Coghlan for a couple of numbers! 🥁 Went with my Dad and it was brilliant. (We reckon we’ve seen the original Quo 20+ times together!!)