Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This event, originally titled ‘Tales of Time: From Medieval to Modern’, took place on 6 February 2025. The information below is correct as of the publication date.
A panel of garlanded writers of fiction lead us into and around the medieval world, through the medium of fiction that draws deeply on medieval sources. Siân Hughes’ novel Pearl is inspired by the poem of the same name, a poetic masterpiece of Middle English literature portraying the grief of a father struggling with the loss of his daughter. It was composed in the West Midlands region of England at the end of the 14th century and survives in a single manuscript, held at the British Library. Victoria Mackenzie’s novel For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain intertwines the voices of the visionary anchoress Julian of Norwich, and Margery Kempe, medieval mystic and author of the first known autobiography in the English language. The discussion was hosted by Sarah Shin.
With a reading from special guest performer Lisa Dwan.
This event accompanied the British Library exhibition Medieval Women: In Their Own Words (25 October – 2 March 2025).
To join more online and in person events visit our website: events.bl.uk
Discover more of our past events at our playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVRvouzCZmFeI-PSlsaLHzJwtEkKshATx&si=94-9DoaNCNTFAyQc
Speaker Bios:
Siân Hughes grew up in Cheshire, where her novel Pearl is set. She borrowed from the medieval poem Pearl to write a story set in an old house she cycled past every day as a child. Her first collection of poetry, The Missing (Salt, 2009), was long-listed for the Guardian First Book Award, short-listed for the Felix Dennis and Aldeburgh prizes, and won the Seamus Heaney Centre Prize for Poetry. Pearl is her first novel, and she lives in Malpas, UK.
Victoria MacKenzie is a fiction writer and poet. She is the winner of the Scottish Book Trust New Writer Award and the inaugural Emerging Writer Award from Moniack Mhor. She was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, as well as being awarded prestigious writing residencies in Scotland, Finland and Australia. She teaches creative writing for the Open College of the Arts. She lives in Scotland.
Sarah Shin is a writer, editor and curator whose work includes making books, texts, gardens, games, scents, spaces, portals and practices. She is a founder and director of Ignota, a publishing house; Silver Press, the feminist publisher; the curatorial project New Suns; and Standard Deviation, a collective exploring the coincidence of psychic, geometric and inhabited spaces.
Lisa Dwan is an Irish actress, director and writer. She is best known for her work in theatre, performing in Samuel Beckett adaptations among other works. She began her career in the Fox Kids series Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog. More recently, she starred in the Netflix series Top Boy.
The British Library is a charity. Your support helps us open up a world of knowledge and inspiration for everyone. Donate today: support.bl.uk/Donate
This event, originally titled ‘Tales of Time: From Medieval to Modern’, took place on 6 February 2025. The information below is correct as of the publication date.
A panel of garlanded writers of fiction lead us into and around the medieval world, through the medium of fiction that draws deeply on medieval sources. Siân Hughes’ novel Pearl is inspired by the poem of the same name, a poetic masterpiece of Middle English literature portraying the grief of a father struggling with the loss of his daughter. It was composed in the West Midlands region of England at the end of the 14th century and survives in a single manuscript, held at the British Library. Victoria Mackenzie’s novel For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy On My Little Pain intertwines the voices of the visionary anchoress Julian of Norwich, and Margery Kempe, medieval mystic and author of the first known autobiography in the English language. The discussion was hosted by Sarah Shin.
With a reading from special guest performer Lisa Dwan.
This event accompanied the British Library exhibition Medieval Women: In Their Own Words (25 October – 2 March 2025).
To join more online and in person events visit our website: events.bl.uk
Discover more of our past events at our playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVRvouzCZmFeI-PSlsaLHzJwtEkKshATx&si=94-9DoaNCNTFAyQc
Speaker Bios:
Siân Hughes grew up in Cheshire, where her novel Pearl is set. She borrowed from the medieval poem Pearl to write a story set in an old house she cycled past every day as a child. Her first collection of poetry, The Missing (Salt, 2009), was long-listed for the Guardian First Book Award, short-listed for the Felix Dennis and Aldeburgh prizes, and won the Seamus Heaney Centre Prize for Poetry. Pearl is her first novel, and she lives in Malpas, UK.
Victoria MacKenzie is a fiction writer and poet. She is the winner of the Scottish Book Trust New Writer Award and the inaugural Emerging Writer Award from Moniack Mhor. She was shortlisted for the Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize, as well as being awarded prestigious writing residencies in Scotland, Finland and Australia. She teaches creative writing for the Open College of the Arts. She lives in Scotland.
Sarah Shin is a writer, editor and curator whose work includes making books, texts, gardens, games, scents, spaces, portals and practices. She is a founder and director of Ignota, a publishing house; Silver Press, the feminist publisher; the curatorial project New Suns; and Standard Deviation, a collective exploring the coincidence of psychic, geometric and inhabited spaces.
Lisa Dwan is an Irish actress, director and writer. She is best known for her work in theatre, performing in Samuel Beckett adaptations among other works. She began her career in the Fox Kids series Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog. More recently, she starred in the Netflix series Top Boy.
The British Library is a charity. Your support helps us open up a world of knowledge and inspiration for everyone. Donate today: support.bl.uk/Donate
