Anne Lock's Sonnets: Modesty or Misunderstanding?

A recent New Yorker article discusses the possibility of Anne Lock, a mid-16th century Puritan writer, as perhaps the very first writer of sonnets* in English -- an exciting determination, if true. Her role has been considered in scholarly circles for several decades but in our currect landscape of finally giving historical women their due -- long overdue! -- this determination is exciting. But what if it's not true? In our enthusiasm to correct the historical record, what are the dangers of over-correction? And does it matter?

(*We have been running a Sonnet Cylce Reading Series in London & New York since the beginning of this year so all aspects of the Elizabethan Sonnet Craze are of interest. Join us or suggest a city for us to come to & we'll be sonneteers together.)