Great time at #VPFAPublics this week. And amazing to hear from @ebutler-way.bsky.social, @ccapancioni.bsky.social , & @helenaesser.bsky.social that papers at next year's conference in Aberystwyth will exclusively take place in bathing machines & on funicular railways, as unlikely as that sounds.

Jo Turner @coppertapestry.bsky.social : Marie Corelli gave public speeches to "my public" of 1000s. Literary celebrity-> "platform poetry." Inconsistent, as Corelli bashed women for unfeminine public speech? Check out Jo's biography of Corelli from the VPWW Series. #VPFAPublics

Delightful that as we gear up for #VPFAPublics, the new issue of VPFJ is out, featuring yours truly in some great company! Have I been wanting to write this since my MA? Quite possibly. Alcott, sensation, Genette, Goethe ... What more could you want? doi.org/10.46911/YER... @vpfa.bsky.social

Victorian Popular Fictions 8.1 3 Butler-Way

“The omen never fails”: Appropriating Intertexts in Louisa May Alcott’s A Long Fatal Love ChaseEmma Butler-WayDownload PDF hereAbstractNot seeing publication until 130 years after it was written, L…

doi.org

When Jo said “up the grand looking staircase”, I wasn’t expecting these beautiful columns! Ready to kick off the conference now! #VPFAPublics

7 May 2-6 pm CEST: WORKSHOP (preparation needed) 👉The Villain Within & #TaiChiZero 👉The Victimisation of Henry Jekyll & #Musical Productions LECTURE 👉 Playing #Steampunk London: Collective Memory and #Transmedia Game Spaces by @helenaesser.bsky.social 👇 qaqv.ia.uw.edu.pl/bavsxqaqv/

JOIN US!

Join us to explore the interactions and connections between the different ways contemporary culture engages with the traces of the Victorian past as well as how these different genres or expressions i...

qaqv.ia.uw.edu.pl

That was fun! Interviewed about my Neglected Victorian Bestsellers YouTube readalong project by @helenaesser.bsky.social for the @vpfa.bsky.social blog victorianpopularfiction.org/neglected-vi...

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

With all the hype around Wuthering Heights since Emerald Fennel's (wild?) adaptation, we thought that this would be a great opportunity for a discussion of Emily Brontë's classic novel for a VPFA collaboration with the Society of Young Publishers.

The next special issue of Victorian Popular Fictions Journal is “Human–Animal Relations in Victorian Popular Literature and Culture” and will be guest-edited by Dr Bethany Dahlstrom & Dr Helena Esser. For full CFP and submission guidelines, please see: victorianpopularfiction.org/wp-content/u...

Check out Helena's new blog post as she considers some new and upcoming Neo-victorian novels and whether they are becoming more unhinged and innovative. Let us know if you have read any of the texts, and any thoughts you may have

Dr Helena Esser@helenaesser.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Looking for some unusual neo-Victorian reads? The @vpfa.bsky.social blog's got you: victorianpopularfiction.org/is-neo-victo...

VPFA's Third Sex Reading Group are back with their first session of 2026! In this session, co-hosted by Crescent Rainwater, they will be discussing Netta Syrett's The Victorians. If you would like to attend or be put on the mailing list,please email vpfareadinggroup@gmail.com with 'FAO: Third Sex'.

Looking for some unusual neo-Victorian reads? The @vpfa.bsky.social blog's got you: victorianpopularfiction.org/is-neo-victo...

Is neo-Victorian Fiction getting more unhinged?

Helena Esser ponders three new and three upcoming offerings from the popular fiction shelfIs it me, or is neo-Victorian fiction getting darker and more unhinged?I mean, not that I’m complaining. Ma…

victorianpopularfiction.org

If that isn't the coolest way to wake up on a rainy Monday morning: A whole video on #Ouida's Under Two Flags (And there are T-shirts, too!!!) ✨ Thank you, @ouidaite.bsky.social, for the tip! www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgNX...

Under Two Flags by Ouida: AMAZING LOST CLASSIC

YouTube video by Roy Reads Anything

youtube.com

New Special Issue of Victorian Popular Fictions Journal, edited by @helenaesser.bsky.social and @drclaireocall.bsky.social alert ‼️ The issue explores Victorian popular fiction and culture as key sites for negotiating gender and sexual non-conformity, with a focus on the concept of the ‘third sex’.

Had an absolutely wonderful evening talking about Austen adaptations and why we love them at the local cinema. 🩷🩷🩷

Introducing: Dr Helena Esser @helenaesser.bsky.social is an Independent Scholar in Germany. Her area of research is Victorian and neo-Victorian gender and popular culture, with specific publications on steampunk and Ouida.

Are you looking for spooky Gothic things to watch for Halloween? Here's a bunch of spoktacular Victorian films, TV series, and RPG campaigns for you! 🎃🎃🎃

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

New Blog post alert- 'Neo-Victorian Gothtober 2025' by Helena Esser. Some spooky neo-Vic gothic films and tv series recommendations for your Halloween watching pleasure! Read here: victorianpopularfiction.org/neo-victoria...

New Blog post alert- 'Neo-Victorian Gothtober 2025' by Helena Esser. Some spooky neo-Vic gothic films and tv series recommendations for your Halloween watching pleasure! Read here: victorianpopularfiction.org/neo-victoria...

Call for Contributions: Victorian Infrastructures & their Environmental Legacies We're still looking for articles to be included in our @openlibhums.org special issue! Abstracts are due 31 October, full texts 31 March '26. @bavs-uk.bsky.social @rs4vp.org @asleuki.bsky.social @easlce.bsky.social

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

Been reading these back to back: One is 1890s decadent gothic, one is 2020s fantasy horror. Both are grotesque and beautiful and raw and weird. Basically, -- *gestures wildly* -- what I want to say is: !!!!!!!!!!!

It's finally here! What an incredibly rich contribution to #TerryPratchett studies. Thank you so much @bretonjustine.bsky.social for your hard work on this project (and in getting my author copy to me!). I am so proud to have a chapter in here. #GNUTerryPratchett

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

What a joy it was getting this page ready to go! All the thanks to @helenaesser.bsky.social for the material! Here we'll have reflections, contemplations, speculations and more (all of a Victorian/neo-Victorian nature, of course). Interested in contributing? Follow the link below & get in touch!

Victorian Popular Fiction Association@vpfa.bsky.social · 11mo 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/

The dirigible has landed & dropped 2 new arrivals on #NeoVictorianism ! "Steampunk London" by @helenaesser.bsky.social analyses how #NeoVictorian fiction, visual art, film & video games, 1980s to present day, reimagine urban space(s) in #steampunk visions of London #CulturalStudies #LiteraryStudies

VPFA Third Sex reading group will be returning for their first session of Season 6 on 17th September, 5.30-7pm. The topic will be Mary Shelley's Lodore, co-hosted with Susan Civale and Siobhan-Michelle Smith! Sign up here: www.eventbrite.com/e/lodore-tic...

Step into the world of steam, scandal, and storytelling at our Virtual Victorian Tea Salon. Brew your favourite blend and join fellow members online for a lively afternoon discussion, creativity, and Victorian charm. All are welcome at our virtual tea table, whether sharing, reading, or sipping!

Please allow me to recommend some summer reading, followed with an invitation to join our book discussion. Everybody is welcome so please share widely (this poster has the correct start time of 5.30pm!) The text and audiobook are available on Internet Archive/Gutenberg. @vpfa.bsky.social

#BAVS2025 you were a blast! 5 x Birkbeck papers from @drvickymills.bsky.social @nonfictioness.bsky.social @helenaesser.bsky.social Julia Kuehn and me! Great to hang with @jeremynewton64.bsky.social too! Such fun and sociability with so many great #Victorian scholars! @19birkbeck.bsky.social

Here are a few of the #BirkbeckVictorianists on tour again, this time at the @bavs-uk.bsky.social 2025 Conference in Oxford. With @janetteleaf.bsky.social, @helenaesser.bsky.social and @nonfictioness.bsky.social.

#BAVS2026 Day2: Exploring Oscar, travel, transcultural encounters, modes of gazing & enmeshing, and multiple stages & versions of female embodiment.