Rachael Hodgson, Murray Edwards

Degree: PhD
Course: English
Supervisor: Dr Nicky Zeeman
Dissertation Title: Ekphrastic dialogues: the transformative language of via negativa writing in the medieval period

Biographical Information

I completed my undergraduate degree in English at the University of Cambridge, followed by a Masters in Medieval Languages and Literatures from the University of York. 

Research Interests

Apophatic writing, The Cloud of Unknowing, The Mirror of Simple Souls, the medieval mystics, ekphrasis, metaphor, literary theory, spatiality, medieval concepts of sensory perception. 

My doctoral research is generously funded by the Judith E Wilson Studentship. 

Selected Publications

Presentations

Cambridge English Graduate Flash Forum: The Medieval Apophatic: Metaphor on the Boundary 

Leeds IMC (forthcoming) Practical Theory and Theoretical Practice: Conceptualising Criticism in the works of the Cloud author

University of Lausanne "Reconfiguring the Apophatic Tradition" (forthcoming) The Cloud author as literary and contemplative theorist: metaphor as an instrument of apophaticism in The Cloud of Unknowing. 

Public Engagement

Cambridge Festival, 2025: How To Think Like a Medieval Writer