Women's writing began much earlier than supposed, finds academic

The first female English authors were thought to have begun writing in the later middle ages, but a new book claims the tradition dates back to the eighth century

The eighth-century abbess who wrote the first surviving example of poetry known to have been authored by an Englishwoman. Or her contemporary, a nun who wrote the first full-length prose text known to be English. A new history of women’s writing argues that there was a thriving female literature far earlier than previously believed, and that earlier histories have deliberately excluded or marginalised the contributions of early medieval women.

The first English women’s writing is usually dated to the later middle ages, to the likes of the 12th-century courtly writer Marie de France and 14th-century visionaries Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe.

Hugeburc's authorship was only discovered in the 20th century, when her name was found to be encrypted in the manuscript

Related: Archive shows medieval nun faked her own death to escape convent

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