Dr Vanessa Wright

Profile

Since 2016, I have worked as the Editorial Assistant for Northern History. 

Northern History is an academic journal owned and run by the School of History that publishes articles and reviews concerning the history of the North of England. I am responsible for the day to day management of the journal and work closely with the Editors to manage the publication process.

I have been affiliated with the University of Leeds since 2015 when I began a PhD in Medieval Studies at the Institute for Medieval Studies. Prior to joining Leeds, I completed my undergraduate studies at Royal Holloway, University of London and an MSt at St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford. I am currently taking an MA in Library and Information Studies at UCL whilst working part-time for Northern History and in a school library. 

Responsibilities

• Editorial Assistant for Northern History

Research interests

My research has been focussed on gender in medieval French literature, medieval canon law, and medieval book culture. My PhD thesis was entitled ‘The Textual and Visual Uses of the Literary Motif of Cross-Dressing in Medieval French Literature, 1200–1500’ and can be viewed here. 

Publications

• Wright, Vanessa, ‘Illuminating Queer Gender Identity in the Manuscripts of the Vie de sainte Eufrosine’, in Trans and Genderqueer Subjects in Medieval Hagiography ed. by Alicia Spencer-Hall and Blake Gutt (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2021), pp. 155-176.
• Co-editor of ‘New Approaches to Medieval Romance, Materiality, and Gender’, Medieval Feminist Forum, 56.1 (2020).
• Morgan Boharksi, Jane Bonsall, Amy Burge, Lydia Hayes, Danielle Howarth, and Vanessa Wright, ‘Introduction: New Approaches to Medieval Romance, Materiality, and Gender’, Medieval Feminist Forum, 56.1 (2020).
• Wright, Vanessa, ‘Review: Male-to-Female Crossdressing in Early Modern English Literature’, Early Modern Literary Studies, 28 (2018).
• Wright, Vanessa, ‘Review: Sexual Culture in the Literature of Medieval Britain’, Ceræ: an Australasian Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, 2 (2016)

Qualifications

• MA in Library and Information Studies
• PhD in Medieval Studies
• MSt in Modern Languages
• BA Hons in French

Professional memberships

• CILIP
• Royal Historical Society
• Medieval Academy of America
• Oxford Bibliographical Society