INTERVIEW: Luke Penkett

Luke Penkett, one of the foremost authorities on Julian of Norwich, discusses Julian’s literary style and influence, as well as introducing his new book Julian of Norwich’s Literary Legacy …

Who was Julian of Norwich and what inspired her to put pen to paper?

Julian was a late fourteenth-/early-fifteenth-century anchoress who experienced a series of revelations centred on Jesus who taught that love was paramount, and her visions were amongst the first words written down in English by a female.

How did you discover her writing?

I’ve known Revelations of Divine Love since my school days – alongside a passion for Middle English literature in general - and was deeply moved by visiting the Julian Shrine, the site of her anchorage, not the actual cell. My understanding of her writing has developed over the decades. And, at first, I found her writing difficult, at times, to understand and relied on commentaries. For a number of years now, as pilgrims visit Julian’s cell from all over the world, people of various faiths and none, I’m asked about Julian and her book, and my latest book, Julian of Norwich’s Literary Legacy, comes, at least in part, as a consequence of this. It is dedicated to volunteers, past, present, and future ‘for keeping the flame alive’ who so very often are the first people visitors meet here.

What were the hallmarks of Julian’s writing in terms of style, vocabulary, rhetorical techniques etc?

In his Foreword to my new book, The Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham Usher writes: 'Luke Penkett draws attention to the medieval anchoress’s stylistic brilliance, clarifies complicated passages for the twenty-first-century reader, and summarises and builds upon the wisdom of the most up-to-date scholarly research to inspire fresh insight into what is the earliest record of a woman writing in the English language.'

It is true that Julian’s popularity has risen again in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic: Why do you think this is the case? Was Julian also writing in times of uncertainty?

During the heights of the Coronavirus pandemic I was struck by how many people drew on the writings of Julian of Norwich to find solace at times of national as well as personal anxiety. Born out of very similar circumstances to our own – uncertainty, fighting, political intrigue, pandemic – Julian knew and empathised with all those who came to her Norfolk cell seeking reassurance and – yes – love. Julian was writing at the time of the bubonic plague, or Black Death, after all.

Where in literature, spiritual or otherwise, do we find the influence of Julian today?

There are an increasing number of books being published, setting Julian in a fictional background which are spreading folks’ imagination, knowledge and love of her.

How do you hope readers will benefit from your new book Julian of Norwich’s Literary Legacy?

This book will bring richer meaning to Julian’s words for those who know them well and assist understanding for those discovering her for the first time.

Luke Penkett, ordained and professing his life vows in L’Église Orthodoxe Celtique, now lives as a solitary in Norwich, where he was erstwhile Librarian and Archivist at the Julian Centre for a number of years, and is now Curator of the Margery Kempe Centre in King’s Lynn Minster (known in Margery Kempe’s time as St Margaret’s), Honorary Secretary of the Margery Kempe Society and Book Reviews Editor for Medieval Mystical Theology. His previous publications include revisions of the two Julian books in the Enfolded in Love series, books on Augustine of Hippo, the Desert Fathers, and Touched by God’s Spirit.

Julian of Norwich’s Literary Legacy is available now in hardback and as an eBook from dltbooks.com and all good bookstores.