📚 Now live: Gulliver's Travels: Before and Beyond Explore our new digital exhibition marking 300 years of Swift's iconic novel. Discover rare collection items & listen to audio readings from our 1735 edition, featuring Ian Hislop, Paterson Joseph, & more. 🔗 View exhibition: https://orlo.uk/JuFdx

New digital exhibition launches 12 October to celebrate 300 years of Gulliver's Travels! Explore books that influenced Swift, the novel's impact on science fiction, and specially commissioned audio readings created exclusively for the exhibition. #GulliversTravels #LivUni

🚀 Big news! The University of Liverpool’s Science Fiction Collection has been awarded Designated status by Arts Council England (@artscouncilengland.bsky.social), recognising its national and international significance. #livuni #SpecialCollections #ScienceFiction #Archives #ArtsCouncilEngland

University of Liverpool acquires entire archive of poet Roger McGough

University of Liverpool acquires entire archive of poet Roger McGough

Archivist Jo Klett says the 40 boxes of material will provide ‘a full picture of Roger’s entire working career’ “It’s a joy to be old,” wrote Roger McGough, one of Britain’s most popular, prolific and funniest poets. “The dog dead and the car sold.” Another joy might be decluttering. After the departure of dozens of boxes of notebooks, manuscripts, drafts, project files, journals, posters, letters, personal artworks and more, McGough has admitted his house is significantly emptier. “If anyone wants to buy some old empty filing cabinets then get in touch … through you,” he joked. Continue reading...

theguardian.com

📢 Open Research Week 2026, Mon 2 - Fri 6 March 2026. Registration is now open! A free series of events exploring new, developing & current practices in #OpenResearch. 👉 Register here: www.liverpool.ac.uk/open-researc... UoL is proud to help lead this national event @liverpooluni.bsky.social 📚📬

📜✨ You can now explore medieval manuscript fragments online! Digitised by our Special Collections & Archives team, they date from the 11th–15th centuries and preserve lost texts and artwork. Explore via the Digital Heritage Lab: https://orlo.uk/WY5YY #livunilibrary #specialcollections

This wonderful clip from a 1981 University of Liverpool promotional film is surely answer enough to Why Preserve? Preserving the film, originally 16mm, doesn’t stop at digitisation. We must monitor digital content to establish authenticity & prevent loss or damage. #WDPD2025

For Black History Month we've dug into the Olaf Stapledon archive to find a little-known story of the visit of the African American singer and activist Paul Robeson to Liverpool in 1949.  🔗 Read more via our blog: https://orlo.uk/4t9EF

Check out our recent blog post all about 'The Embedding' by Ian Watson and a fascinating look at how the author explores linguistics alongside science fiction. Read student Jonathan Thornton's blog: https://orlo.uk/UqgDO #livunilibrary #livuni #specialcollections #voyager #sciencefiction

As we celebrate the launch of Collecting Stories by Katy Hooper, why not try a walking tour inspired by the book itself? Step into the stories and explore the items and objects from the book first hand! #CollectingStories #WalkingTour #LivUniPress #LivUniLibrary

Liverpool University Press@livunipress.bsky.social · 12mo ago

To celebrate the launch event, editor and Special Collections Librarian at @livunilibrary.bsky.social Katy Hooper has written a blog post with a walking tour of the university campus to see many of the items included in the book. Let us know if you follow along around campus! bit.ly/UoLWalk

Science fiction author Ian Watson’s archives are held in our Special Collections & Archives, including a draft manuscript of 'The Embedding'. How does Watson’s novel revolutionise how we think about alien communication? View the exhibition to find out! 👇 https://orlo.uk/yycjw

Did you know that for her underrated feminist masterpiece, Native Tongue, author Suzette Haden Elgin invented the language Láadan? 🤔 Visit our digital exhibition to see what the novel can teach us about language acquisition and alien communication! 👀 ➡️ https://orlo.uk/MGwoQ

Did you know we have been imagining communicating with alien beings since before science fiction? Explore how the Houyhnhms in Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift provide a blueprint for alien communication Discover more in our Voyager digital exhibition: https://orlo.uk/RU1wI

📚 Collecting Stories by Katy Hooper showcases 150 years of incredible items collected by @liverpooluni.bsky.social, including rare books, science-fiction, sculpture and more! #SpecialCollections #Archives #UniversityOfLiverpool #CollectingStories

Liverpool University Press@livunipress.bsky.social · last yr.

Published in partnership with @liverpooluni.bsky.social, the book includes 72 illustrations accompanied by lively and accessible text which illuminates connections between Liverpool, the University, and cultures across the world. @victoriagallery.bsky.social @livunilibrary.bsky.social

Could the animals we know on Earth provide us with a model to understand what aliens might look and behave like? Texts like Naomi Mitchison’s feminist SF classic Memoirs of a Spacewoman use sea creatures as a way of imagining the alien. View our digital exhibition👇 https://orlo.uk/vgZ8X

Could the techniques we use to acquire languages on Earth to help us understand alien languages? US anthropologist Chad Oliver imagines such a situation in 1957’s science fiction classic The Winds of Time. See the exhibition for more! Digital Heritage Lab: https://orlo.uk/6gVE0

What would it feel like to decode an alien language? Creators of Voyager’s Golden Record had to imagine this, but how would aliens make sense of the information we send them with limited context? It might feel a bit like trying to read the Codex Seraphinianus! See more: https://orlo.uk/dXg26

Welcome to the new exhibit about the Voyager probe and alien communication at the University of Liverpool Digital Heritage Lab! Humans have always been fascinated by the idea of aliens, but how would we go about speaking to one? View more here 👇 https://orlo.uk/bfj8C #DigitalHeritageLab

📢 Voyager digital exhibition launches tomorrow! Did you know the Voyager probes launched by NASA in 1977 contained a message in case they are found by future alien civilizations, put together by Carl Sagan? He also wrote the script for the film Contact. Stay tuned for more!

What do you think about this concept? Nnedi Okorafor explores this idea in Binti. Look out for the forthcoming exhibition on the Voyager project for more! #VoyagerDigitalExhibition #SpecialCollectionsAndArchives #LivUni

📢 An exciting new online exhibition is coming to the University of Liverpool Digital Heritage Lab! It will explore the legacy of the Voyager probes and ideas about alien communication. Stay tuned for more! #SpecialCollections #Archives #LivUni #DigitalHeritageLab

🌍 Our new digital exhibition is live! Around the World in 20 Folk Tales explores a global tapestry of illustrated folktales - from the Caribbean to Japan - and everywhere in between. 🔗 View now: https://orlo.uk/1emYV #SpecialCollectionsAndArchives #FolkTales #DigitalExhibition

5 days to go! A fascinating glimpse into how science fiction and nature come together in Aldiss’s work. #ScienceFiction #AldissCentenary #BrianAldiss

Victoria Gallery & Museum@victoriagallery.bsky.social · last yr.

Just 5 days to go until the in-person launch of Brian Aldiss and the Natural World. Here’s a sneak peek of what’s in store! 📅 Sat 23 Aug, 3-5pm 📍 VGM, Liverpool 🎟️ Book your free spot: https://orlo.uk/vZFhD #BrianAldiss #SCA #SciFi #LiverpoolEvents

The Harold Cohen library is still closed due to unforeseen circumstances. We’re extremely sorry for the inconvenience. We will update you when it re-opens. The Sydney Jones library is still open daily from 9am to 6pm as an alternative.

Celebrate 100 years of Brian W. Aldiss! Join Special Collections & Archives for a one-day in-person event to launch a new online exhibition. 📅 23 August 2025 📍Victoria Gallery and Museum 🎟️ Sign up: https://orlo.uk/5fA5d 💻Online - late August 2025 #ScienceFiction #BrianAldiss

From 12 July to 14 September, there’s a new overnight study space open in the 502 Teaching Hub 🕛 This new addition will provide even more flexible study environments throughout the summer months for @liverpooluni.bsky.social students! 🔗 Get the full details here: https://orlo.uk/4vPmy

🎓 In celebration of graduation week, we're revisiting moments from the 1980s on Abercromby Square, courtesy of Special Collections and Archives. #LivUni #Graduation #SCA #Throwback

If you're on campus and have a spare couple of minutes - head to Sydney Jones Library and check out the adult learning exhibition, curated by our Go Higher team. We've been championing access to education for ages! @livunilibrary.bsky.social

📢 Your Uni Libraries are here for you this summer! 📚 HCL: 24/7 access until 11 July, then Mon-Fri 9am–9pm & Sat-Sun 9am-6pm 🏛️ SJL: From 2 June, 9am-6pm daily 🌙 502 Hub overnight space: 12 July-14 Sept 📖 From Sep ’25: SJL 8am-10pm term time, HCL 24/7 Follow @LivUniLibrary for updates! #LibraryLove

A wonderful collection displayed in our Special Collections and Archives 😍 The Sydney Jones Library is the final UK stop on the Book, Jacket, and Journal Show tour! Check it out until Thursday 29 May.

Liverpool University Press@livunipress.bsky.social · last yr.

We're excited to be the final stop on this year's @aupresses.bsky.social Book, Jacket, and Journal Show, the first year the show has toured internationally! Thank you to @livunilibrary.bsky.social / @livunisca.bsky.social for displaying the show on our behalf!