When I mention my fascination with Julian of Norwich to the many people who have never heard the name, their first response is usually: “Who’s he?”
A tricky foundation upon which to convince them that the she (not he) in question is a 14th-century mystic from Norwich whose book should be studied alongside Chaucer as one of the early English literary masterpieces.
Julian was the first known woman to write in English, an accolade that in itself should earn her text, the Revelations of Divine Love, recognition. But whether she was male or female, born in the 14th century or the 21st, the book she wrote was a literary achievement by any standard.
