Dr Emily Buffey BA (Hons), MA, PhD

• BA (Hons) in English Literature
• MA in Medieval and Early Modern English Literature (with Distinction)
• PhD in English Literature – all University of Birmingham

I teach across the historical spectrum – from the ancient period to the modern – though my main interests lie in the sixteenth century. I am particularly interested in ancient and medieval literary reception in the post-Reformation period, early modern print culture, women’s writing (particularly Aemilia Lanyer and Hester Pulter), literary communities, scribal practices, and the sixteenth-century Inns of Court. My work has been published in Modern Philology, Comparative Drama and The Journal of Early Modern Studies. I am currently preparing a monograph about early modern dream vision poetry in relation to its medieval English analogues and sources, using contrasting theoretical lenses to explore and affirm the cultural importance, artfulness and utility of this much-misunderstood category of literary expression.

This year I will be teaching (and in some cases convening): Plays and Performance, Reading English, Discovering Shakespeare, Renaissance Poetry, Shakespeare (Elizabethan and Jacobean) and Tragedy. I also teach the optional third-year module on Renaissance Drama (‘Flourish for the Players’).

I invite queries from students with an interest in the “long” sixteenth century, particularly the reception of medieval literature, print culture, women’s writing, and Elizabeth I. I also have an interest in Shakespearean adaptation, biofiction and the modern historical novel, and would welcome applications from those interested in Shakespeare and adaptation more widely.

I have presented papers at universities across the UK and give regular lectures for the University of Birmingham Shakespeare Society. In 2018 I was invited as guest speaker at the University of Cambridge Early Modern interdisciplinary seminar, where I gave a paper on poetic justice and the dream vision poem. During my time in the Department of English Literature I have co-ordinated several talks for the Centre for Reformation and Early Modern Studies (CREMS) and EMREM. Previous roles include General Co-Editor for the Birmingham Journal of Literature and Language (now Ad-Alta), text consultant for the AHRC- funded project ‘Electric Shadow’ inspired by the medieval work of Piers Plowman, and A2B tutor for the University’s Access to Birmingham scheme.