About Us

York Medieval Journal (YMJ) aspires to publish high-quality, rigorously reviewed academic work by postgraduate medievalists at the University of York. Committed to accessibility, YMJ grants early career postgraduate students the opportunity to experience and prepare for the peer review and publishing process. YMJ takes inspiration from the interdisciplinary and cross-cultural academic environment created by the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of York. As such, YMJ aims to promote engagement with a broad range of disciplines informed by global methodologies. 

YMJ was started in 2026 and hopes continue to grow in the coming years. It aims to promote a supportive and stimulating environment for everyone new to academic publishing on the Middle Ages, across all disciplines. It invites inventive and experimental approaches to material, under the supervision of an editor. If you are interested in getting involved, email us mailto:york-med-journal@york.ac.uk and keep an eye out for a call for papers.

The Team

Editorial Lead: Anna Pirie (she/her) is an MA student in Medieval Literatures and Languages at the University of York. She is interested in eco-critical approaches to Old English verse, with a particular focus on the aesthetic of the mouth, eating and ingestion in Beowulf and the verse Andreas. (ap2103@york.ac.uk)

Editorial Lead: Ramalya Karunaratne (she/her) is an MA student in Medieval Studies at the University of York. Her research is focused on cross-cultural performances of gender in mystical writing across Islamic and Christian mystics Rab’ia al-ʼAdawiyya al-Qaysiyya and Margery Kempe. (gpw534@york.ac.uk)

Secretary: Thirsa Hiemstra (she/her) is an MA student in Medieval Studies at the University of York. Her research interests are in tracing attitudes towards widows in relation to gendered networks of agency in Early Medieval England. (vvs538@york.ac.uk)

Publicity Lead: Leah Thomas (they/them) is an MA student in Medieval Studies at the University of York. They are interested in how the body emerges as an affective medium in Early Medieval England, particularly in the interaction between image and text. (mrk563@york.ac.uk)

Ethics and Compliance Officer: Madeleine McKeon (she/her) is an MA student in Medieval Studies at the University of York. Her research focuses on the intersection of disability studies and late medieval sainthood with a particular interest in representations of dwarfism. (pcl525@york.ac.uk)

Creative Director: Barbara Niven (they/she) is an MA student in Medieval Languages and Literatures at the University of York. (vhf526@york.ac.uk)