Ezra Horbury

Profile

Biography

Ezra Horbury gained their Ph.D at the University of Cambridge (Darwin), having completed a B.A. in English Literature and Creative Writing and M.A. in English Literature at the University of Warwick. Their Ph.D thesis was adapted into their first monograph, Prodigality in Early Modern Drama (Boydell and Brewer). After teaching at Cambridge for a year, they went on to complete a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at University College London, funded by the British Academy. This was adapted into their second monograph, Reading the Margins of the Early Modern Bible (Oxford University Press/Liverpool University Press). They are an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Research

Overview

Ezra’s research pursues perceptions of gendered embodiment, the impact of the vernacular Bible, and the intersectionality of marginalized bodies in early modern literature. They have written most extensively on Shakespeare, Middleton, and Jonson, but have also published on Spenser, Donne, Randolph, Beaumont, and Fletcher.

Ezra’s research has pursued cultural representations of gendered embodiment and the impact of the vernacular Bible. Their current work explores the intersection between age, gender, and sexuality in early modern works. Ezra also maintains interests in contemporary theory and its historical applications, as well as Russian literature.

Ezra’s first monograph, Prodigality in Early Modern Drama (Boydell and Brewer: 2019), presents the first study of early modern ‘prodigality’: excessive spending. Prodigality is a crucial and highly gendered concept for defining the financial dimension of masculinity, sexuality, and morality at the emergence of proto-capitalism, commonly depicted through the parable of the prodigal son.

Ezra’s second monograph, Reading the Margins of the Early Modern Bible, presents a new understanding of how notes in the margins of the Bible were read in early modernity. It investigates the creative and surprising ways readers engaged with these margins, resisting narratives that present them as dangerous and seditious.

Ezra has published widely in journals across theology, early modernity, and gender studies, with work appearing in Shakespeare Quarterly, Harvard Theological Review, and Transgender Studies Quarterly. 

Teaching

Undergraduate

Ezra teaches across Renaissance/early modern literature, as well as contemporary theory. They are interested in supervising postgraduate work on early modern gender and sexuality.