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.
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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.
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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...
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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.
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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...
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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!
