Bringing the medieval past alive
My name is Michael Smith; I am an author, translator, printmaker and performer. Mythical Britain is a showcase for my work in bringing the medieval past alive.
My background...
I hold a BA honours degree in History and an MA in Medieval Literatures and Languages, both from the University of York. I am currently a PhD research student working on the effective presentation of medieval Middle English texts.
I have also studied as a printmaker at the Curwen Print Study Centre at Linton, near Cambridge, UK, where I was subsequently awarded CPSC certification levels 1 and 2 by Stanley Jones MBE and Chloe Cheese in 2011 and 2012.
My interests...
My particular area of interest is in medieval Middle English romances and the way their narrative was conveyed - through writing, illumination and public reading.
I believe these texts present a unique insight into how people in medieval times responded to their environment, both through sight and through sound.
Through my art, writing and performance work I hope to share some of this with you - and to stimulate further thinking about how medieval people interacted with, and thought about, their world.
And a bit about Britain...
In Britain, old cultures from many ages surround us in the fields, hills and architecture of the land. Their voices emerge at quiet moments and in unexpected places.
Once, when I was resting in the golden light of a Herefordshire evening at Kilpeck, a woman walked towards me across a hazy field.
"It doesn't get much better than this", I said to her, as I relaxed in the shadow of that Norman church and castle.
"It does if you live in Wales", she replied in a lilting accent fresh from the hills.
This is Mythical Britain. Welcome to my world!
