James Simpson

Simpson’s work is centred on the shape and logic of literary works in their historical context. He believes that the purpose of literature and other art forms is "to hear the voices repressed by official forms of a given culture."

His early work focused on literary criticism and historical contextualization of poetry, especially the late 14th century English poem, Piers Plowman and Medieval Humanism from the 12th to the late 14th centuries (e.g. Alan of Lille’s Anticlaudianus and John Gower’s Confessio Amantis). In 2002, "The Oxford English Literary History: 1350-1547 : reform and cultural revolution" was awarded the British Academy Sir Israel Gollancz Prize.

Simpson began to study the way that cultural pressures, particularly the immense pressure of the Reformation in England, shaped the definition and reception of pre-Reformation literature. His work Burning to Read centres on the fundamentalist Bible reading in the early 16th century. Under the Hammer: Iconoclasm in the Anglo-American Tradition defines the long and unending history of image breaking in Anglo-American culture, leading up to, across, and beyond the Reformation. Permanent Revolution: the Reformation and the Illiberal Roots of Liberalism defines the English Reformation as a long period of revolution, with all the cultural features of revolutionary movements, and asserts that Liberalism was the answer to the violence-producing pressures produced.

Simpson has worked in academia in Australia, the UK, and the USA, where he has taught medieval literature. He was a University Lecturer in English at the University of Cambridge (1989-1999), Fellow and College Lecturer at Girton College, University of Cambridge (1989–1999) and Professor of Medieval and Renaissance English at the University of Cambridge (1999–2003). He then worked at Harvard University (2003-) where he was appointed "Donald P. and Katherine B. Loker Professor of English" (2004-).

James Simpson (born 16 March 1954 in Melbourne) is an Australian-British-American medievalist currently serving as the Donald P. and Katherine B. Loker Professor of English at Harvard University.