Victoria (V.M.) Whitworth (née Thompson; born in London 1966) is a British writer,

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

. Her published writings, which focus on Britain in the later first millennium AD, include novels, academic works and a memoir.

Biography

Whitworth studied English (specialising in

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

languages, literature and archaeology) at

St Anne's College, Oxford St Anne's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and gained full college status in 1959. Originally a women's college, it has admitted men since 1979. It has some 450 undergraduate and 200 ...

, before doing an MA and a D.Phil. in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. From 2012 to 2016 she was a lecturer at the Centre for Nordic Studies on the Orkney campus of the University of the Highlands and Islands. Her research has primarily focused on Pictish,

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

and Anglo-Saxon stone sculpture. Whitworth has published three historical novels set in

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...

England. On 27 September 2020 a letter in support of JK Rowling for her stance on

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

issues was published in the

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

to which Whitworth was one of 58 signatories.

Books

Fiction

* ''The Bone Thief'' ( Ebury Press, 2012), * ''The Traitors’ Pit'' (Ebury Press, 2013), * ''Daughter of the Wolf'' ( Head of Zeus, 2016),

Memoir

* ''Swimming with Seals'' (Head of Zeus, 2016),

Academic books

* ''Dying and Death in Later Anglo-Saxon England'' (

Boydell & Brewer Boydell & Brewer is an academic press based in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, that specializes in publishing historical and critical works. In addition to British and general history, the company publishes three series devoted to studies, edition ...

, 2004), * ''Bodystones and Guardian Beasts: The Gravestones of Middle Britain from the 8th to 11th Centuries'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, forthcoming)

References

External links

Author's web site

Victoria Whitworth
on Academia.edu 1966 births British archaeologists British women archaeologists Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford Alumni of the University of York Academics of the University of the Highlands and Islands Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Anglo-Saxon studies scholars Scottish novelists Living people British women historians {{UK-historian-stub