Space City Medievalism

Project Overview

During the 2024-25 year, we are hosting a series of workshops between scholars of medieval literature and creative writers that explore different aspects of medieval poetics. Creative writers will then create their own responses to medieval literature, ranging from translations and adaptations to pastiches and confrontations, to create original compositions that intertwine contemporary and medieval poetics.

Houston & Medieval Studies

Houston and medieval are words that do not sit easily together. Houston's relationship to the past is often one of ambivalence, if not outright aggression: its urbanism is based on knocking down the old to build the new, and the legacies of environmental disasters have further frayed the ties between the city and its past. Space City Medievalism uses this tension between place and time to galvanize creative responses to medieval literature in Houston.

Reimagining Medieval Studies

Just as Houston's identity is continually in formation and defined by multilingualism, so too is the Middle Ages changing as a concept. As a term, "The Middle Ages" is a post-medieval invention. Academic study of the period formalized during the nineteenth century, driven by imperialist and nationalizing narratives. These vestiges remain within the academic discipline of Medieval Studies, but recent work has sought to confront the field's imperialism and racism. Space City Medievalism contributes to these efforts reimagining the futures of Medieval Studies by fusing contemporary and medieval poetics.

Contact Information

For further information about Space City Medievalism, please contact Daniel Davies at:

ddavies [at] uh [dot] edu