Simone Celine Marshall is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

, specialising in 15th century literature, in particular the afterlives of

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He ...

's poems.

Academic career

Marshall has a Bachelor of Arts from

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

, a BA with Honours and a Masters with Honours from the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato (), established in 1964, is a Public university, public research university located in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university performs research in nume ...

. She completed a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

titled'' The female voice in the Assembly of ladies: a 'volume without contours' '' at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. Marshall then joined the faculty of the University of Otago, rising to associate professor in 2018 and full professor in 2022. Marshall identified a previously unknown edition of Chaucer's works from 1807, and was invited to write a biography of Chaucer by Wiley/Blackwell. This discovery shows that Chaucer's life has been used to "uphold conservative white attitudes". Marshall has received two

Marsden grant Marsden Fund grants are contestable funding for investigator-led fundamental research in New Zealand. Grants are made in all areas of research in science, engineering, and mathematics. The grants are made from the Marsden Fund, which was establish ...

s. In 2009, the grant "A new paradigm of medieval literary anonymity" explored how she found that anonymity in medieval literature was a literary convention used by marginalised people, including women, to express dissent, rather than a reflection of a lack of authorial individualism. Marshall was an associate investigator on a 2011 Marsden grant "The machinery of transcendence: unattended moments in the Modernist tradition", which was led by Professor Chris Ackerley. This grant explored the relationship between medieval traditions and

Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

aesthetics. In 2023, inspired by medieval works such as the

Book of Kells The Book of Kells (; ; Dublin, Trinity College Library, MS A. I. 8 sometimes known as the Book of Columba) is an illustrated manuscript and Celts, Celtic Gospel book in Latin, containing the Gospel, four Gospels of the New Testament togeth ...

and the

Lindisfarne Gospels The Lindisfarne Gospels (London, British Library Cotton MS Nero D.IV) is an illuminated manuscript gospel book probably produced around the years 715–720 in the monastery at Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland, which is now in the Bri ...

that reflect where they are from, Marshall initiated a collaborative project with Otago Art Society to create a "Book of Otago". Community groups, schools, artists and writers were invited to submit a page for the book about what Otago means to them. The pages were exhibited at the Otago Art Society during November and December 2023, and will be bound into a published book. Marshall practices and teaches

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

, to assist students in understanding the skills required to produce the manuscripts they are studying. Marshall teaches courses on monsters and monstrosity in medieval literature, medieval misogyny and those who fought against it, and also teaches a class in a surveying course, covering the

Hereford Mappa Mundi The Hereford Mappa Mundi (, map of the world) is the largest medieval map still known to exist, depicting the known world. It is a religious rather than literal depiction, featuring heaven, hell and the path to salvation. Dating from AD, the m ...

Selected works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Simone New Zealand academics New Zealand women academics Victoria University of Wellington alumni University of Waikato alumni University of Sydney alumni Academic staff of the University of Otago Chaucer scholars New Zealand academics of English literature Medievalists Women medievalists New Zealand calligraphers