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A Witty Resurrection Of Julian Of Norwich’s Medieval Writing

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Courtesy of Amy Laura Hall

Julian of Norwich is considered to be the first woman to write a book in English. Her text “Revelations of Divine Love” written in the late 1300s to early 1400s presents a vision of God that came to her on what she thought was her deathbed. And her version of God is different from what the Catholic Church preached at the time. Instead of a doctrine of strict hierarchy and fear, Julian’s God preached love, joy and equality for all. 

The message resonated deeply with scholar Amy Laura Hall who has spent the past 20 years studying and teaching Julian’s writing. In her new book “Laughing at the Devil: Seeing the World with Julian of Norwich” (Duke University Press/2018) Hall, a professor of Christian ethics at Duke Divinity School, presents an irreverent and empathetic reading of the boundary-breaking woman and connects Julian’s teachings to modern-day life. Hall will read from her book at the Regulator Bookshop in Durham on September 11

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Laura Pellicer is a digital reporter with WUNC’s small but intrepid digital news team.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
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