
Dr Hannah Crawforth
Reader in Early Modern Literature
Research interests
- Literature
Biography
I am an Early Modernist with broad teaching and research interests in Anglo-American poetry from the sixteenth-century to the present. I have been at King's since 2009, when I received my PhD from Princeton University.
I am currently at work on two book projects. Tragic Political Thought: Milton and Modernity tells the story of two very different revolutionary moments in which Greek tragedy serves as a means for thinking the political. Juxtaposing the English Revolution of the seventeenth-century with the Haitian Revolution of the eighteenth, the book sets Milton's political writings alongside accounts of the life of Toussaint Louverture (by C.L.R. James, David Scott, and Toussaint himself) and offers a new account of the revolutionary power of Greek tragedy.
A second project charts the wide-ranging engagement with early modern texts by African-American poets writing today. Based upon a series of original interviews, along with readings of poems and early modern antecedents, the book explores what it means to reimagine the literary forms of a past that has often been the instrument of oppression and a site of trauma.
I have published books on Etymology and the Invention of English in Early Modern Literature (Cambridge, 2013) and the co-authored Shakespeare's London (Arden, Bloomsbury, 2015). With Elizabeth Scott-Baumann I have collaborated extensively on Shakespeare's Poems, co-editing a collection of essays (The Sonnets: State of Play) and commissioning poets to respond to the Sonnets (for the Shakespeare400 commemorations in 2016).
I am also the author of essays on poetry both modern and early modern, on writers including W.E.B. DuBois, Fulke Greville, Thom Gunn, Geoffrey Hill, John Milton, Edmund Spenser, and Evie Shockley.
Research Interests
I am interested in supervising work in the following areas:
- Poetics, especially transhistorical topics
- Early Modern poetry
- Greek tragedy and its reception
- Shakespeare's Poems
- Anglo-American poetic dialogues
Teaching
I teach on a variety of modules and at all levels, from first-year core courses to PGT and PhD supervision. Topics include poetry, the reception of classical and other myths, Milton, Shakespeare (especially the poems), and Premodern Race and Gender. I sometimes convene the MA in Early Modern Literature, co-taught with the British Library.
Expertise and Public Engagement
I have made numerous radio and television appearances, including, most recently, an episode of In Our Time on Shakespeare's Sonnets.
I was part of the steering committee for the Globe's latest Shakespeare and Race: Spoken Word(s) festival, held in November 2022.
How to make a formal complaint: Sara Ahmed's Complaint! and William Shakespeare's A Lover's Complaint
Scott-Baumann, E. & Crawforth, H., 2 Feb 2024, (Accepted/In press) In: Shakespeare Survey. 77, p. 130-146 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
The Sonnets: The State of Play
Crawforth, H., Scott-Baumann, E. & Whitehead, C., 1 Jan 2017, Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. 313 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
Introduction
Crawforth, H., Scott-Baumann, E. & Whitehead, C., 1 Jan 2017, The Sonnets: The State of Play. Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, p. 1-10 10 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Foreword/postscript › peer-review
Beyond the Allegorical Veil: Spenser with W.E.B. DuBois
Crawforth, H., 2023, In: Spenser Studies. 37, p. 393-411 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
'Magnificent Anachronism': Sisson in the Seventeenth Century
Crawforth, H., 2 Jan 2023, C.H. Sisson Reconsidered. Moul, V. & Talbot, J. (eds.). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 87-107 (The New Antiquity).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
'Doubtful Feet' and 'Healing Words': Greek Tragic Prosody in 'Samson Agonistes'
Crawforth, H., 2021, In: Skenè: Journal of Theatre and Drama Studies. 7, 2, p. 203-220Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Figuration
Crawforth, H., 31 Oct 2022, Oxford History of Poetry in English: Volume 4: Sixteenth-Century Poetry. Oxford Univerity Press; Oxford, p. 143-58Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Greek tragedy on the university stage: Buchanan and Euripides
Crawforth, H. & Jackson, L., 17 Jan 2019, Gathering Force: Early Modern British Literature in Transition, 1557–1623. Poole, K. & Shohet, L. (eds.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 340-355Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Scholarship, Sacrifice and Subjectivity: The Renaissance Bible Today
Crawforth, H. & Leo, R., 30 May 2018, In: Reformation. 23, 1, p. 1-5 5 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review
States of Mind: Tom O’Bedlam and Early Modern Attitudes to Mental Health
Noonan, I. P., Thomas, R., Sherlock, L., Crawforth, H. J. & Vickers, N. C., 14 Feb 2016, NA.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference paper
‘“Bride-habited, but Maiden-hearted”: Language and Gender in The Two Noble Kinsmen’
Crawforth, H. J., 21 Nov 2013, Women Making Shakespeare: Text, Reception and Performance. McMullan, G., Orlin, L. C. & Vaughan, V. M. (eds.). London: Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare, p. 25 34 p. 3Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
'A father to the soul and a son to the body': Gender and generation in Robert Southwell's Epistle to his father
Crawforth, H., 1 Jan 2017, Conversions: Gender and Religious Change in Early Modern Europe. Smith, H. & Ditchfield, S. (eds.). Manchester: Manchester University Press, p. 61-80 19 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
The Politics of Greek Tragedy in 'Samson Agonistes'
Crawforth, H., 2016, In: SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 31, 2, p. 239-260 21 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Family Politics in Early Modern Literature
Crawforth, H. (Editor) & Lewis, S. (Editor), 31 Jan 2017, Palgrave Macmillan. (Early Modern Literature in History)Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
The Sonnets: The State of Play
Crawforth, H. J. (Editor), Scott-Baumann, E. (Editor) & Whitehead, C. (Editor), 1 Jun 2017, London: Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare. (Arden Shakespeare: The State of Play)Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
On Shakespeare's Sonnets: A Poets' Celebration
Crawforth, H. (Editor) & Scott-Baumann, E. J. (Editor), 2016, London: Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare. 94 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book
The Two Noble Kinsmen: (textual edition)
Crawforth, H. J., 2015, The Norton Shakespeare. Greenblatt, S., Gossett, S., Howard, J. E., Maus, K. E., McMullan, G. & Cohen, W. (eds.). Third ed. New York: W.W. NortonResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Shakespeare in London
Crawforth, H., Dustagheer, S. & Young, J., 26 Feb 2015, London: Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare. 262 p. (Arden Shakespeare )Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
"Overlord of the M5": Anglo-Saxon Sovereignty in Geoffrey Hill's 'Mercian Hymns'
Crawforth, H., 2010, Anglo-Saxon Culture in the Modern Imagination. Clark, D. & Perkins, N. (eds.). Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell & Brewer Ltd, p. 219-236 18 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Etymology and the Invention of English in Early Modern Literature
Crawforth, H., 30 Oct 2013, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 240 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
Strangers to the Mother Tongue: Spenser's Shepheardes Calender and Early Anglo-Saxon Studies
Crawforth, H., Mar 2011, In: JOURNAL OF MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN STUDIES. 41, 2, p. 293 - 316 24 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Prophetic Language and Etymological Discovery in the Work of Richard Verstegan
Crawforth, H., 2007, In: New Medieval Literatures. IX, p. 93 - 115 23 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Court Hieroglyphics: the Idea of the Cipher in Ben Jonson's Masques
Crawforth, H., 2010, Diplomacy and Early Modern Culture. Adams, R. & Cox, R. (eds.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 138-154 17 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Research

Shakespeare Centre London
Devoted to research, learning and teaching in Shakespeare and early modern literature and drama - in partnership with Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

presentPasts
Across the Faculty of Arts & Humanities, King’s academics study cultural interactions across time and the transhistorical traditions that often frame, foster, and shape them.
News
Shakespeare's poems take centre stage in new yearbook by King's academics
Dr Hannah Crawforth and Dr Elizabeth Scott-Baumann, Readers in Early Modern Literature in the Department of English, guest edited Shakespeare Survey 77, and...

English student profile: Jonathan Andrews
Jonathan Andrews tells us about his time at King's - why he chose to study English, the highlights of his course and the exciting things he's been involved in...

Final year English students presented with special memento
Final year English students were presented with a special memento of their time at King's, at an end of year party

Events

Wild Court Reading Series Presents Kimberly Johnson
For the fourth event in the Wild Court Reading Series, we are delighted to welcome celebrated US-based poet, translator and literary critic Kimberly Johnson.
Please note: this event has passed.
How to make a formal complaint: Sara Ahmed's Complaint! and William Shakespeare's A Lover's Complaint
Scott-Baumann, E. & Crawforth, H., 2 Feb 2024, (Accepted/In press) In: Shakespeare Survey. 77, p. 130-146 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
The Sonnets: The State of Play
Crawforth, H., Scott-Baumann, E. & Whitehead, C., 1 Jan 2017, Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. 313 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
Introduction
Crawforth, H., Scott-Baumann, E. & Whitehead, C., 1 Jan 2017, The Sonnets: The State of Play. Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, p. 1-10 10 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Foreword/postscript › peer-review
Beyond the Allegorical Veil: Spenser with W.E.B. DuBois
Crawforth, H., 2023, In: Spenser Studies. 37, p. 393-411 19 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
'Magnificent Anachronism': Sisson in the Seventeenth Century
Crawforth, H., 2 Jan 2023, C.H. Sisson Reconsidered. Moul, V. & Talbot, J. (eds.). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 87-107 (The New Antiquity).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
'Doubtful Feet' and 'Healing Words': Greek Tragic Prosody in 'Samson Agonistes'
Crawforth, H., 2021, In: Skenè: Journal of Theatre and Drama Studies. 7, 2, p. 203-220Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Figuration
Crawforth, H., 31 Oct 2022, Oxford History of Poetry in English: Volume 4: Sixteenth-Century Poetry. Oxford Univerity Press; Oxford, p. 143-58Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Greek tragedy on the university stage: Buchanan and Euripides
Crawforth, H. & Jackson, L., 17 Jan 2019, Gathering Force: Early Modern British Literature in Transition, 1557–1623. Poole, K. & Shohet, L. (eds.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 340-355Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Scholarship, Sacrifice and Subjectivity: The Renaissance Bible Today
Crawforth, H. & Leo, R., 30 May 2018, In: Reformation. 23, 1, p. 1-5 5 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review
States of Mind: Tom O’Bedlam and Early Modern Attitudes to Mental Health
Noonan, I. P., Thomas, R., Sherlock, L., Crawforth, H. J. & Vickers, N. C., 14 Feb 2016, NA.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference paper
‘“Bride-habited, but Maiden-hearted”: Language and Gender in The Two Noble Kinsmen’
Crawforth, H. J., 21 Nov 2013, Women Making Shakespeare: Text, Reception and Performance. McMullan, G., Orlin, L. C. & Vaughan, V. M. (eds.). London: Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare, p. 25 34 p. 3Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
'A father to the soul and a son to the body': Gender and generation in Robert Southwell's Epistle to his father
Crawforth, H., 1 Jan 2017, Conversions: Gender and Religious Change in Early Modern Europe. Smith, H. & Ditchfield, S. (eds.). Manchester: Manchester University Press, p. 61-80 19 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
The Politics of Greek Tragedy in 'Samson Agonistes'
Crawforth, H., 2016, In: SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 31, 2, p. 239-260 21 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Family Politics in Early Modern Literature
Crawforth, H. (Editor) & Lewis, S. (Editor), 31 Jan 2017, Palgrave Macmillan. (Early Modern Literature in History)Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
The Sonnets: The State of Play
Crawforth, H. J. (Editor), Scott-Baumann, E. (Editor) & Whitehead, C. (Editor), 1 Jun 2017, London: Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare. (Arden Shakespeare: The State of Play)Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
On Shakespeare's Sonnets: A Poets' Celebration
Crawforth, H. (Editor) & Scott-Baumann, E. J. (Editor), 2016, London: Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare. 94 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book
The Two Noble Kinsmen: (textual edition)
Crawforth, H. J., 2015, The Norton Shakespeare. Greenblatt, S., Gossett, S., Howard, J. E., Maus, K. E., McMullan, G. & Cohen, W. (eds.). Third ed. New York: W.W. NortonResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review
Shakespeare in London
Crawforth, H., Dustagheer, S. & Young, J., 26 Feb 2015, London: Bloomsbury Arden Shakespeare. 262 p. (Arden Shakespeare )Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
"Overlord of the M5": Anglo-Saxon Sovereignty in Geoffrey Hill's 'Mercian Hymns'
Crawforth, H., 2010, Anglo-Saxon Culture in the Modern Imagination. Clark, D. & Perkins, N. (eds.). Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell & Brewer Ltd, p. 219-236 18 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Etymology and the Invention of English in Early Modern Literature
Crawforth, H., 30 Oct 2013, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 240 p.Research output: Book/Report › Book › peer-review
Strangers to the Mother Tongue: Spenser's Shepheardes Calender and Early Anglo-Saxon Studies
Crawforth, H., Mar 2011, In: JOURNAL OF MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN STUDIES. 41, 2, p. 293 - 316 24 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Prophetic Language and Etymological Discovery in the Work of Richard Verstegan
Crawforth, H., 2007, In: New Medieval Literatures. IX, p. 93 - 115 23 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Court Hieroglyphics: the Idea of the Cipher in Ben Jonson's Masques
Crawforth, H., 2010, Diplomacy and Early Modern Culture. Adams, R. & Cox, R. (eds.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 138-154 17 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Research

Shakespeare Centre London
Devoted to research, learning and teaching in Shakespeare and early modern literature and drama - in partnership with Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.

presentPasts
Across the Faculty of Arts & Humanities, King’s academics study cultural interactions across time and the transhistorical traditions that often frame, foster, and shape them.
News
Shakespeare's poems take centre stage in new yearbook by King's academics
Dr Hannah Crawforth and Dr Elizabeth Scott-Baumann, Readers in Early Modern Literature in the Department of English, guest edited Shakespeare Survey 77, and...

English student profile: Jonathan Andrews
Jonathan Andrews tells us about his time at King's - why he chose to study English, the highlights of his course and the exciting things he's been involved in...

Final year English students presented with special memento
Final year English students were presented with a special memento of their time at King's, at an end of year party

Events

Wild Court Reading Series Presents Kimberly Johnson
For the fourth event in the Wild Court Reading Series, we are delighted to welcome celebrated US-based poet, translator and literary critic Kimberly Johnson.
Please note: this event has passed.