Our 18th Annual Conference is now over, and some of you may be staving off the post-VPFA conference depression. Not to worry, because we have JUST the cure: Volume 8, issue 1 of Victorian Popular Fictions Journal 🤩💫 Read it online here: victorianpopularfiction.org/publications...

Victorian Popular Fictions volume 8 issue 1 (Spring 2026)

Table of Contents ArticlesJulia Kuehn and Diane Eveline van den Brink. The Good, the Bad, and the Popular: The Question of a Popular Canon and Other Methodological ContemplationsLinda K. Hughes. Cr…

victorianpopularfiction.org

Thank you to @vpfa.bsky.social for inviting me to give my 1st (pedagogy focused) keynote where I playful thought about What the Victorians Taught Me About Teaching? I focused on creative production, emotion, sociability&wellbeing. I shared some of my students creative work too. #vpfapublics

A new regular feature on the VPFA blog: 'On This Day in the Pages of the Victorians'. Emma Butler-Way considers dates in fiction, and periodicals. An entry from everyone's favourite heroine, Marian Halcombe might feature in this post 👀

Emma Butler-Way@ebutler-way.bsky.social · 2mo ago

New on the @vpfa.bsky.social Blog in 'Fun Facts and Bizarre Books': On This Day in the Pages of the Victorians: 19th June. Was this post born out of procrastination? I couldn't possibly comment. But it was a fantastic way to while away an afternoon... victorianpopularfiction.org/on-this-day-...

What do we do when we career pivot? That's an increasingly commin phenomenon for academics these days.

Tell publishers to keep the news in the Wayback Machine: www.savethearchive.com/newsleaders/

Annalee Newitz@annaleen.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Meanwhile, publishers are blocking the Internet Archive, a digital library, from archiving their journalism due to fears of "AI scraping." That's right -- the same papers selling their work to AI companies are blocking a nonprofit archive due to "fears of AI." (2/3) www.niemanlab.org/2026/05/more...

What a fantastic idea!

Victorian Popular Fiction Association@vpfa.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Put the kettle on and step inside the nineteenth-century home! ☕️ From the material culture of parlour objects to the daily routines and invisible labour found in popular fiction and periodicals, we’re diving into the micro-histories of Victorian daily life. VPFA members check your emails for a link

Please encourage any early career & NTT scholars doing fantastic work on Victorian poetries to submit to @victorianpoetry.bsky.social ‘s 2026 Early Career Prize — more info in the thread (have not had enough coffee, text of the call is embedded in a reply to the post linked below)!

Victorian Poetry@victorianpoetry.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Victorian Poetry invites submissions for its 2026 Early Career Prize. Please share far and wide! More info in the image / alt-text. Submissions due 3 August 2026.

Reminder - just 5 days left to submit a paper proposal for "Belonging to the Victorians? Community, Collections, and Care", a 1-day conference on 4 September 2026 to be held at Wilton's Music Hall. Details in attached image. 🌟

Victorian Poetry invites submissions for its 2026 Early Career Prize. Please share far and wide! More info in the image / alt-text. Submissions due 3 August 2026.

Some time ago I called for reflection on our disciplinary practices and the risks of too automatic and conservative practices: youtu.be/cGxS6H8bflg?...

The Shape of Water Andrew King Colby Acceptance Speech 2018

YouTube video by Andrew King

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Shocking news that the University of Hertfordshire is closing Humanities. Sign the petition here if you care about the place of ethics, creativity and critical reflection in #HigherEducation. c.org/5WwymVxR8G

Sign the Petition

Save the Humanities at the University of Hertfordshire

c.org

In a new VPFA Blog Post, Helena Esser interviews Roy Reads Anything (@edgerat.bsky.social) about his Neglected Victorian Bestsellers project. There's Marryat, Lytton, Corelli, Ouida, and more! Read the post here: victorianpopularfiction.org/neglected-vi... Roy's YouTube: www.youtube.com/playlist...

Neglected Victorian Bestsellers with Roy Reads Anything

Helena Esser interviews Roy Bayfield about the most VPFA book club ever On YouTube, Roy Reads Anything heads up a year-long read-along that will be right up the VPFA members’ alley: We’ve got Marry…

victorianpopularfiction.org

Great opportunity here.

Victorian Popular Fiction Association@vpfa.bsky.social · 4mo ago

VPFJ is seeking to expand its pool of expert reviewers. Send an email to VPFJournal@gmail.com with subject "VPFJ Reviewer Database" including: - A short CV (or link to institutional profile) and ORCID. - Preferred email address for contact. - Up to 10 research keywords - Any recent publications

In a time of fixed-term or zero-hour contracts and uncertainty in HE, come join us as we discuss alternative careers. We'll hear from 3 members working outside academia, and there will be Q&A after! This event is free for VPFA members, so don't forget to check that your membership is up to date.

Read VPFA's new blog post by Mary Eliza Root Prize's 2025 winner, Sophie Franklin! Post available here: victorianpopularfiction.org/mer-prize-re...

MER Prize Reports (Blog)

Mary Eliza Root Award Reports 2017: Anne Chapman, King’s College London Anne was awarded the prize for her research into ‘Day of Rest: Structuring Sunday’, which explores the ways…

victorianpopularfiction.org

Registration is OPEN for our 18th Annual Conference: "Victorians and Their Publics". 🌎Liverpool John Moores University 📅6-8th July, 2026 💸£20-135 (depending on in-person/ student status). To read the full conference programme and to register, head to: victorianpopularfiction.org/vpfa-annual-...

Been thinking about #critical #creativity/ #creative #criticism recently as alternatives to literary critical essays and decided to set extracts from #Ouida novels to music, and then music video. Here's the first. How successful is it at clarifying her argument here? youtu.be/JSDkZsMKjS4

Characters from Ouida, for Voice and String Quartet. 1 Bebee and the Sun

YouTube video by Andrew King

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More exciting VPR news!

Victorian Periodicals Review@vpreditors.bsky.social · 5mo ago

CFP: VPR will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2027. We’re taking this historic occasion to capture the state of our field in a “KEYWORDS” special issue guest edited by Fionnuala Dillane, @jimmussell.bsky.social & @mdamkjaer.bsky.social. Proposals due March 30. Details: rs4vp.org/vpr-cfp-spec...

Did you read or review a great new book on #19thC periodical studies? Was it published in the last year? If yes, nominate it for a Colby Book Prize! We're still accepting nominations through 31 January. [NB: For tax reasons, authors *cannot* self-nominate.] More info here:

The Robert and Vineta Colby Scholarly Book Prize – RSVP

The Colby Book Prize was endowed in 2006 in memory of Robert Colby by his wife, Vineta Colby, distinguished scholars and long-time members of RSVP. In 2011, following Vineta’s death, the Board of…

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It's here! We are delighted to announce that Issue 8 of the RRR Journal, Play in the Long Nineteenth Century, is available to read now at the link below. We can't wait to hear your thoughts on these brilliant articles! www.rrrjournal.com/issue/8

Issue 8: Play in the Long Nineteenth Century

Issue 8 of Romance, Revolution and Reform.

rrrjournal.com

Happy Holidays from RSVP! Our gift 🎁 to you is the debut of a new interview series, starting with @patrickleary.bsky.social, who sat down with @c19thnewshound.bsky.social this past year to discuss "Getting Started with Periodicals Research." Stay tuned for more in 2026! rs4vp.org/introducing-...

Introducing A New Interview Series – RSVP

We're launching a new series of interviews of senior RSVP members, who will discuss their advice for researching 19th-century periodicals.

rs4vp.org

Merry Christmas from all of us here at Gwent Archives! One of our favourite items in our collection, is a set of Victorian Christmas cards. Turn your phones and screen to uncover a twist with this particular card!

The arrest of Greta Thunberg for peacefully opposing genocide and supporting those on hunger strike is wrongful and disturbing. This is yet another shocking example of the UK’s broad terrorism laws being used to target those exercising their right to freedom of expression and assembly rights.

Submissions for the VPFA First Book Prize are now OPEN! Deadline is 31st December 2025. For full eligibility criteria and submission guidelines, go to: victorianpopularfiction.org/vpfa-book-pr...

Do you want to start reading Ouida but don't know where to start? Find my handy #Ouida Starter Guide on the official VPFA blog: @vpfa.bsky.social victorianpopularfiction.org/the-official...

The Official Ouida Starter Guide

As told by Helena Esser So, this Ouida lady.You’ve heard so much, a lot of it from me, if you’ve met me. “I really have to read Ouida!”, you vow, after I’ve tried to conjure the rush and beauty of …

victorianpopularfiction.org

Excited to announce that the VPFA blog has launched! Thanks to Emma Butler-Way for her hard work in getting it ready for today, for more information check out the blog at the link below: victorianpopularfiction.org/the-vpfa-blog/

The VPFA Blog

The VPFA Blog Welcome to the VPFA Blog! Here we will have ponderings, reflections, speculative readings, and more, for the reading pleasure of our fellow Victorianists. If you would like to submit …

victorianpopularfiction.org

Don't miss my account of what it was like for a first-timer at this summer's #vpfaextremes conference. A very exciting read indeed ;-)

Victorian Popular Fiction Association@vpfa.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Excited to announce that the VPFA blog has launched! Thanks to Emma Butler-Way for her hard work in getting it ready for today, for more information check out the blog at the link below: victorianpopularfiction.org/the-vpfa-blog/

I have written a Blog Post for @vpfa.bsky.social about my time at @chawtonhouse.bsky.social as a Visiting Fellow! To read about the value of organisations like Chawton House to scholarly associations like VPFA, and an amusing snippet from a woman's diary: victorianpopularfiction.org/in-which-i-s...

In Which…I Spent a Month at Chawton House!

A reflection by Rebecca HamiltonI spent the entire month of August feeling as though I were a character in a Jane Austen’s novel, in the very place Jane Austen wrote all her major novels: Chawton. …

victorianpopularfiction.org

A reminder to get your abstracts in for VPFA's next upcoming Study Day, organised by Anne-Marie Beller: 'Sensation Fiction and the Health Humanities: A VPFA Study Day'. Email a.m.beller@lboro.ac.uk for any additional information.

Victorian Popular Fiction Association@vpfa.bsky.social · 10mo ago

🚨Call for Papers! ❓Sensation Fiction and the Health Humanities: A VPFA Study Day 🗺️Loughborough University 📅27 March 2026 💷 FREE For full CfP: victorianpopularfiction.org/studyday/for... Contact the organiser Anne-Marie Beller (@braddonite.bsky.social) at a.m.beller@lboro.ac.uk for more information

Send me your abstracts for Sensation Fiction and the Health Humanities #VPFA #HealthHumsLboro

Victorian Popular Fiction Association@vpfa.bsky.social · 9mo ago

A reminder to get your abstracts in for VPFA's next upcoming Study Day, organised by Anne-Marie Beller: 'Sensation Fiction and the Health Humanities: A VPFA Study Day'. Email a.m.beller@lboro.ac.uk for any additional information.