English
David Lawton received his MA from Oxford and his Ph.D. from the University of
York, where he held his first academic post in 1974-5. He moved to the
University of Sydney, Australia, in 1975, and stayed there as Reader in Early
English Language Literature until 1992. From 1992 to1995 he was Professor and
Head of English in the University of Tasmania, moving to England in 1995 to be
Professor of English and Chair of Literature in the School of English and
American Studies at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, where he remains
Professorial Fellow. In 1998 he became Professor of English at Washington
University, and became Chair in January 2002. He was elected Fellow of the
Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1993.
David Lawton has published five books and many articles in English literary and
cultural studies and in medieval studies. He is currently preparing editions of
Chaucer's poetry and prose, and completing a book on voice and space in medieval
literature. He is founding co-editor of a major journal, New Medieval
Literatures, published by Oxford University Press, and becomes executive
director of the New Chaucer Society when it moves to Washington University in
July this year. Still a frequent broadcaster in Australia, David Lawton has also
published poetry and journalism.
He was Director of Graduate Studies in English at Sydney and here (1999-2002).
He has been served as main advisor on more than 20 Ph.D. dissertations, and
helped steer several on to subsequent publication. Former students of his hold
tenured or tenurable academic positions in Australia, Britain, Japan and the
USA.