Emily Kesling

Position

Postdoctoral Fellow, medieval literature

Affiliation

Research groups

Short info

I am a specialist in early medieval English literature and Old English. My interests are broad, and I have published on a variety of topics including medieval medicine, palaeography and scribal culture, women’s writing, monasticism, and Old English poetry.
Research

I am a specialist in early medieval English literature and Old English. My interests are broad, and I have published on a variety of topics including medieval medicine, palaeography and scribal culture, women’s writing, and monasticism. My current research focuses on the earliest private devotional books: the early Insular prayerbooks. I aim to address the importance of private prayer in early medieval England and its influence on Old English literary tradition.

I completed my doctorate at the University of Oxford with a focus on the large body of vernacular medical material extant in Old English.  A revised version of this work was published as a monograph with the title Medical Texts in Anglo-Saxon Literary Culture. This book was awarded the biennial prize for Best First Monograph by the International Society for the Study of Early Medieval England (ISSEME).

Publications
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.