Jolene Witkam’s MA Thesis in Philology from Leiden University

It is so interesting when one’s own novel becomes fodder for literary scholars to analyze. As a literary scholar myself, it is really fun to read. For example, I came across an MA thesis which analyzes Grendel’s Mother: Jolene Witkam’s MA Thesis in Philology from Leiden University. One of her advisors is none other than Dr. M. H. Porck, whose blog on Early English material and Old English is fantastic. Then there is Kathleen Forni’s Beowulf’s Popular Afterlife in Literature, Comic Books, and Film (Routledge, 2018). Forni calls my novel “a realistic and lyrically poetic version of a story….As Morrison’s elegant retelling attests, high art can also embody the experiences of the marginalized.” I’m delighted academics are able to take this novel and read it from theoretical and linguistic perspectives. I’m looking forward to seeing more in the future! Let me know if you come across any other such works.