This research network brings together scholars in Belgium and The Netherlands, at various stages of their career, who are engaged in studying female authorship and female cultural agency before c. 1900 in Europe and the Atlantic World. We focus on conceptualizations and representations of female authorship, women’s historical position in the literary field (both as a group and individually), their publications (in any genre or domain, language or form), and their contemporary and later reception.
The Women’s Writing in History network seeks to foster intellectual exchange among its members and to create possibilities for junior scholars to engage with experts in the field, both based in the Netherlands and further afield. The network especially encourages collaborative efforts in collecting and bringing together data and expertise using shared digital infrastructure, such as the SHEWROTE database currently being developed by the European-wide DARIAH Working Group Women Writers in History (https://www.dariah.eu/activities/working-groups/women-writers-in-history/).
Every year, the network organizes at least one work-in-progress meeting with members of the research network and other interested colleagues, and one masterclass with an (international) expert in the field.
The coordinators of this research network are Lieke van Deinsen (KU Leuven), Feike Dietz (UvA), Nina Geerdink (UU), Alicia C. Montoya (RU).
Contact: n.geerdink@uu.nl
Do you want to become a member of this Research Network? Please contact huizinga@uu.nl. The network welcomes members of all backgrounds. Huizinga-affiliation is not a precondition. Members of the network will receive updates of activities, and can also share news on e.g. relevant publications, events, and vacancies with the other members of the network.
Upcoming meetings
We are pleased to invite you to our next online Feedback Session, which will take place on Friday, February 28, 2025, at 15:00. The Feedback Session is an informal, online discussion. You can choose to share a short written piece in advance and/or give a brief presentation about your work during the session. Please register via huizinga@uu.nl to receive the link.
Would you like to receive feedback on your work-in-progress—such as papers, chapters, applications, or presentations—related to early modern women’s writing? If so, please email f.valkhoff@uu.nl by February 17 to express your interest and send your documents.
Past meetings
4 november 2022: Start meeting
8 december 2022: Symposium RNW Women Writers in History: ‘Digital Approaches to Women’s Book Culture’
2 February 2023: Feedback session
12 May 2023: Feedback session
Friday 3 November 2023: Seminar Beyond Invisibility – The Quest for Historical Women in Sources and Archives
23 January 2024: Feedback session (1)
Tuesday 12 March 2024: ACSEM Seminar: New Scholarship on Historical Women’s Writing
Week of 13 May 2024: Feedback session (2)
Friday 27 September 2024: Symposium on the occasion of the launch of Belle van Zuylen’s online correspondence
5-6 December 2024:, RU Nijmegen, University Library: SHEWROTE Dataworkshop – SHEWROTE