Kate Ash-Irisarri
Lecturer in Late Medieval Scottish & English Literature

Contact details
- Email: k.ash-irisarri@ed.ac.uk
Address
- Street
-
Room 3.16
50 George Sq - City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH8 9LH
Availability
Student Drop-in hours
Semester 1: Tuesday 2-3pm; Wednesday 9.30-10.30am
Background
A first-generation student, Kate was an undergraduate at the University of Oxford, then completed an MA and PhD at The University of Manchester. Before coming to Edinburgh in 2022, she previously taught at the universities of Manchester, Liverpool Hope, Nottingham and Bristol. She also spent three years working with the University of Manchester's Widening Participation team (2010-13), first as the co-ordinator of the university's flagship secondary school access programme (Manchester Gateways) and then as the project officer for the RCUK-funded School-University Partnership Initiative (SUPI). Kate is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Qualifications
MA (Oxon); MA, PhD (Manchester)
PGCHE
Responsibilities & affiliations
- Editor, Scottish Literature and Culture, The Literary Encyclopedia
- Review, Older Scots, The Year's Work in English Studies
Undergraduate teaching
I teach pre-1800 literature, with a particular focus on the medieval period.
- Scottish Literature 2A
- Literary Studies 1B
- The Field Full of Folk
- Shakespeare: Modes & Genres
I also convene the Year Abroad Long Essay.
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
Yes
Areas of interest for supervision
Kate is open to PhD enquiries related to any aspect of her research interests.
Research summary
I specialise in the literature of late medieval Scotland and England, with a particular focus on memory and the history of emotions.
Current research interests
I am currently involved in a seed-funded project focused on women's reproductive mental health. Working with colleagues at UWE and Exeter and with women in Bristol, the project seeks to understand the mental health support needs of women at moments of reproductive transition (menarche, pregnancy/childbirth, menopause).Research activities
-
Grief and Grievance: Emotive Performativities in Hary's Wallace
Research output: Contribution to Conference › Paper (Published) -
England and Scotland Here Impartially Divide”: Contentions at the Anglo-Scottish Border
In:
The Bottle Imp, vol. 29
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
The Past in Scottish Writing, c.1350-c.1550: Memory, Affect, Imagination
Research output: › Book (Accepted/In press) -
An unlucky day for the Scots: Reframing the Battle of Brunanburh in late Medieval Scottish literature
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Accepted/In press) -
Douglas and Scottish Writing
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Accepted/In press) -
The manuscripts of Walter Bower’s Scotichronicon
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Accepted/In press) -
The emergence of Older Scots (Inglis)
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Accepted/In press) -
Entries on 'Sir Gilbert Hay', 'John Ireland', 'John of Fordun', 'Richard Vairement' and 'Hary'
Research output: › Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary (Accepted/In press) -
Scotland and Anglo-Scottish border writing
(19 pages)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316681299.014
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Published) -
Dangerous Women of the Scottish Wars of Independence
In:
The Historian, vol. 140
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)