Maybelle Leung (she/her) is a Ph.D. Candidate in the English Department at York University. She completed her Hons. B.A. at University of Toronto and her M.A. at York University. Her research is funded by the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship, the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, and the St. George’s Society of Toronto Endowment for Graduate Student Award.

Maybelle is interested in gender, erotics, and cultural emergence in medieval literature, from the vantage points of history and critical theory. Her dissertation examines the English literary reception of the French allegorical poem, the Romance of the Rose, tracing the generic crossovers between courtly love and religious devotion that unfolded in its wake, and using that to historicize the theoretical implications of sexual “unpleasure” in the late Middle Ages. Her peer-reviewed work includes an article on embodied devotion and anchoritic practice for Magistra, and a forthcoming article on queer translation and postmodernity in Robert Glück’s Margery Kempe.

As a Teaching Assistant, Maybelle believes that all students, from any background, can find fulfillment in reading literature. She has assisted courses on speculative fiction at University of Toronto Mississauga and led tutorials in the English Department at York University. Most of all, she is passionate about applying literary analysis to everyday life. Having worked in various fields, from music instruction to technical copywriting, Maybelle brings a focus on art and practical application to literary study.

Maybelle’s updated CV can be found on this website.

Email address: leungm20@yorku.ca