Publishing a book with a British or American press today demands navigating a landscape shaped by changing tastes, publishing nationalism, and evolving market realities. Paulo Lemos Horta—author with books and contracts at Farrar, Straus and Giroux, W.W. Norton and Harvard University Press, and professor at NYU—draws from his extensive experience to illuminate practical insights for authors at every career stage, from graduate students and postdocs to established scholars. This talk provides pragmatic guidance on publishing etiquette, book proposals, and strategic planning. He will address trends, controversies, and new challenges, such as open access and digital publishing, while emphasizing how authors can effectively position projects in a publishing landscape often wary of foreign or "unfamiliar" voices.

The Historia Apollonii regis Tyri enjoyed widespread popularity throughout the Middle Ages. Its Old English translation survives uniquely in Cambridge, Corpus Christi College MS 201—a codex notable for its Christian and legal contents. My talk investigates the subtle Christianizing elements introduced into the Old English version, examining how these veiled insertions reshape the figure of Apollonius in light of the religious and ideological currents of the pre-Conquest period. Particular attention is given to the influence of the English Benedictine Reform and its connection with the kingship of Wessex, exploring how these factors inform the cultural strategies of translation. Ultimately, the Old English Apollonius emerges as a compelling case study of translation not merely as linguistic transfer, but as a vehicle for spiritual reinterpretation and doctrinal engagement for a monastic context. 

Dr Laura Varnam from the University of Oxford joins us on the 16th of May 2024. She will read from her poetry collection inspired by the women of Beowulf and be in conversation with Prof. Irina Dumitrescu about her process of writing poetry inspired by medieval texts.