Hildegard of Bingen's mission, "Cry Out and Write," could well be a clarion for scores of women writers whose voices are only recently being heard.

This book studies the work of three women - Vibia Perpetua, Hildegard, and Julian of Norwich - who suffered divine revelation, along with a divine imperative to tell the world about it. How did they go about converting the unique experience of holy vision into shareable words and images? What was it like for them, as women in a world dominated by male power, to set the images down accurately, get the meaning of them right - and do so in the form of accepted, authoritative texts?

These are some of the questions Cry Out and Write seeks to answer.