University of Manitoba - Faculty of Arts - English - Faculty Details
Faculty Details

Faculty (Alphabetical) --- Faculty (by Research Interest)


Dr. David Watt

Associate Professor
Office: 256 St. John's College
Phone: (204) 474-8945
Email: David.Watt@umanitoba.ca

Education D.Phil (St. Anne's College, Oxford), MA (University of Alberta), BA (University of Alberta)

david watt image

Recent Courses

  • ENGL 1200 Representative Literary Works (Writing Intensive)
  • ENGL 2080 Medieval Literature
  • ENGL 3000 Chaucer
  • ENGL 3800 King Arthur and the Matter of Britain
  • ENGL 3800 An Introduction to Manuscript Studies
  • ENGL 3800 Games & Thrones
  • ENGL 4630 Old Books, New Science
  • ENGL 7600 Bibliography
  • ENGL 7900 Heresy, Crusade, and the Definition of Belief in Late Medieval England
  • ENGL 7900 Awkwardness and Grace

Areas of Specialization

Medieval Literature; Thomas Hoccleve; Manuscript Studies; Bibliography; Book History; Manuscripts and Rare Books at the University of Manitoba

Representative Publications

Books and Edited Volumes

  • The Making of Thomas Hoccleve’s Series. Exeter Medieval Texts and Studies (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2013).
  • Guest editor, Florilegium, vol. 33: Medieval Manuscripts in Canada. 2019 (for 2016).


Selected Articles and Book Chapters

  • “‘Mescreauntz,’ Schism, and the Plight of Constantinople: Evidence for Dating and Reading London, BL Additional MS 59495.” John Gower in Manuscript and Early Printed Books, ed. R. F. Yeager, Martha Driver, and Derek Pearsall. Cambridge: Boydell and Brewer (2020), 131-151.
  • “The Collegiate Gothic: Legitimacy and Inheritance in Robertson Davies’ The Rebel Angels.” English Canadian Medievalism: Romance and Allegory. Anna Czarnowus and Jane Toswell, eds. Cambridge: Boydell and Brewer (2020): 97-112.
  • “What do we study when we study manuscripts in Canada?” Florilegium, vol. 33: Medieval Manuscripts in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2019 (for 2016): 1-14.
  • “Thomas Hoccleve’s Regiment of Princes.” A Companion to Fifteenth-Century English Poetry. Eds. Julia Boffey and A. S. G. Edwards (Cambridge: Boydell and Brewer, 2016 in Paperback; 2013 in Cloth): 47-57.
  • “Antoine Joseph Lottinger’s first book on the cuckoo and its fosterers: a rare book with three title-pages.” Archives of natural history 42.2 (2015): 253-64. Written with Spencer Sealy and Mélanie F. Guigueno.
  • “The Study of Renaissance and Reformation Books on the Canadian Prairies.” Renaissance and Reformation Studies 37.3. (2014): 235-262. Written with Sharon Wright and Paul Dyck.
  • “Thomas Hoccleve’s Particular Appeal.” Pedagogy 13.2 (Spring 2013): 337-355. Print.
  • “Compilation and Contemplation: Beholding Thomas Hoccleve’s Series in Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Selden Supra 53.” The Journal of the Early Book Society 14 (2011): 1-30.
  • “Thomas Hoccleve’s La Male Regle in the Canterbury Cathedral Archives.” Opuscula: Short Texts of the Middle Ages and Renaissance 2:4 (2012): 1-11. Online.
  • “The Importance of Being Earnest about the Future of Print.” Feliciter 57.6 (2011): 189-90; 92. Print.
  • “Does Size Matter to Students Working with Manuscripts Today? A Case Study.” SMART: Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching. 17.2 (Fall 2010): 27-46. Print.
Student Editions
  • Sir Thomas Malory. The Tale of Gareth. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Vol. 1, The Medieval Period, 2nd ed. Online Supplement. Edited by Joseph Black et al. (Peterborough: Broadview, 2012): 40 pages. Online.
  • Thomas Hoccleve. “Ballad on the Reburial of Richard II” and Complaint. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Vol. 1, The Medieval Period, 2nd ed. Edited by Joseph Black et al. (Peterborough: Broadview, 2009): 555-566. Print.
  • Thomas Hoccleve, “La Male Regle,” “Ballad for Master H. Somer,” “Another Poem about the Blessed Virgin,” and “The Letter of Cupid.” The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Vol. 1, The Medieval Period, 2nd ed. Edited by Joseph Black et al. (Peterborough: Broadview, 2009): 20 pages. Online. 

Current Projects (Books and Edited Volumes only)

  • Laughter & Awkwardness in Late Medieval England: Social Discomfort in the Literature of the Middle Ages. (Monograph)
  • Thomas Hoccleve: New Approaches. Essay Collection co-edited with Jenni Nuttall.
  • Maple Leaves: The Collection of Manuscripts and Early Printed Books at the University of Manitoba. Multi-media project in collaboration with Shelley Sweeney, Jimmy Maiello, Jim Bugslag, Christine Bone, Lisa O’Hara, Ashley Schers, Nicole Courrier, and Heather Bidzinski.
  • Geoffrey Chaucer, Dream Visions and Lyric Verse. Student edition with Brandon Alakas, Kathy Cawsey, and Jessica Lockhart.

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