Rate My Professor Simone Celine Marshall

Professor Simone Celine Marshall is Professor of English in the Department of English and Linguistics at the University of Otago, part of the School of Arts in the Humanities Division, where she also serves as Head of the School of Arts. She earned a BA from Victoria University of Wellington, BA Honours and MA Honours from the University of Waikato, and a PhD from the University of Sydney in 2005, with a thesis titled The Female Voice in the Assembly of Ladies: A Volume Without Contours. Marshall joined the University of Otago in 2007, advancing from lecturer to senior lecturer, associate professor in 2018, and full professor in 2022. Her academic career includes coordinating the Humanities Professional Postgraduate Training Programme and supervising PhD and MA students in medieval literature topics.

Marshall's research focuses on medieval literature, Geoffrey Chaucer, manuscript agency, book history, palaeography, codicology, calligraphy, and medievalisms. Notable publications include The Female Voice in The Assembly of Ladies: Text and Context in Fifteenth-Century England (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009), The Anonymous Text: The 500-Year History of The Assembly of Ladies (Peter Lang, 2010), and co-edited The Medieval Presence in the Modernist Aesthetic: Unattended Moments (Brill, 2017). Other works feature articles such as The 1807 Edition of the Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (Notes & Queries, 2011), Manuscript Agency and the Findern Manuscript (Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, 2007), and Middle English Chaucer in Dryden’s Fables (Notes & Queries, 2019). A forthcoming book is The Life of the Author: Geoffrey Chaucer (2026). She received the University of Otago Early Career Award for Distinction in Research in 2010 and a Marsden grant in 2009 for research on medieval literary anonymity. Marshall teaches courses including ENGL254 Magic and Treachery in Medieval Literature, ENGL354 Monsters and Monstrosity in Medieval Literature, and ENGL454 Medieval Misogyny: Subverting the Antifeminist Tradition, incorporating hands-on activities in quill-making and calligraphy. She arranges professional internships for students with organizations such as Otago Daily Times, Dunedin City of Literature, and Otago Museum. Public contributions include her Inaugural Professorial Lecture The Good Scribe: Lessons from the Quill (2022) and lectures on medieval manuscripts like the Dunedin Books of Hours.