A scholarly conference entitled Anchorites, Wombs and Tombs, on medieval anchorites and the social and gender context of enclosure in medieval Britain was held July 5-7, 2002 at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Topics included Ancrene Wisse, linguistics, mysticism, hagiography, and gender issues. Web site for proceedings is: http://www.aber.ac.uk/english/conferences/wtprog.htm.
Pelicans in the Wilderness
An exhibition of paintings with hermits and solitaries as its theme was presented April 16 to June 2, 2002, by the Holburne Museum of Art in Bath, England. The exhibition coincided with publication of Isabel Colegate’s non-fiction book, Pelican in the Wilderness: Hermits and Solitaries, published by HarperCollins in the UK and Counterpoint Press in the USA. The Web site is: http://www.bath.ac.uk/Holburne/pelican.htm.
Raven’s Bread
Looking for a newsletter with a predominantly Catholic approach to eremiticism? Raven’s Bread is edited by Paul and Karen Fredette. Karen Fredette was formerly a Poor Clare nun and author Karen Karper, who published a narrative of her six years as an Appalachian hermit in Where God Begins to Be: A Woman’s Journey into Solitude, published by Eerdman’s, 1994. Raven’s Bread is $8 for four annual issues. The Website is: http://www.op.org/ravensbread/
Guthlac, Medieval Hermit
Little is known about St. Guthlac except a standard hagiography. He lived in late seventh-early eighth century England, and is held as a model of saintly eremitism in later English resources. A compact narrative and bibliography on Guthlac and his sister Pega is assembled at Umilta, an Italian Web site in (occasionally broken) English devoted to a handful of English and Italian saints. The design is lacking but the information is unique on the Web. The Guthlac page is: http://www.umilta.net/guthlac.html.