Conference: ‘Psalms and Paraphrases’ (12 May 2026)

The Book of Psalms holds a central place in both Jewish and Christian traditions, acting as a prayerful bridge between the divine and the human. Through the centuries, it has been translated, versified, and reimagined to suit new linguistic landscapes and historical realities. As a result, it provides the perfect medium through which to investigate transnational and transhistorical literary trends. This conference brings together a diverse group of experts to explore the multifaceted history of this tradition ranging from the Hebrew Bible itself to Byzantine and Medieval Latin rewritings to poetic innovation in the Serbian language at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

Invitation: Roundtable ‘Decolonizing Latin Literary Studies in Practice’

Can we effectively unlearn and dismantle the harmful, neocolonial structures of knowledge that have shaped Latin into the field of study it is today? If so, how can we relearn Latin? Together, the six speakers, the audience, and the organizers will partake in a collective project of imagining and developing a toolkit for un/relearning Latin.

Conference: ‘Medieval Texts and their Social Contexts: Performance, Performativity, Agents and Genres’

Our next conference on "Medieval Texts and their Social Contexts: Performance, Performativity, Agents and Genres" will take place in Ghent from 13–14 November 2025. All are warmly invited to join us in person! Registration via: https://event.ugent.be/registration/medievalperformance.

Report: Roundtable ‘Women as Authors of Latin Literature’

On 11 March 2025, RELICS members Simon Smets and Alex Tadel organized a virtual roundtable on women as authors of Latin literature. Six impulse talks explored women’s Latin writing across historical periods, highlighting projects on early modern scientific texts, medieval women writers, digital linguistic datasets, collaborative research, and the historical contextualization of individual authors. Jane Stevenson also traced the development of the field, from its initial focus on fifteenth-century Italy to a broader geographical and chronological scope. The ensuing discussion emphasized the importance of integrating women’s Latin texts into educational curricula, fostering collaboration and mutual support among researchers, and addressing concerns about the potential career implications of specializing in women writers. The roundtable concluded with the hope that the exchange would inspire future collaborations.

Conference: ‘Waterways and Literary Channels of the Pre-Modern World’

This workshop explores the various appearances and meanings of water in pre-modern literary cultures. What role did the geography of waterways play in the transregional movement of authors, texts, styles, and poetics? What commonalities and differences can we identify across…