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
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...
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...
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.
So happy to find a fellow fan! I LOVE the series!! And I do have the DVD 😄
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! 🎃🎃🎃
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...
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/
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!
Helen Esser's book "Steampunk London" on a wooden bench in a park setting
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.
Here's an excellent opportunity for anyone working on Margaret Oliphant! Please help spread the word. This special issue is looking for more contributors.
Excited to see our collection on Tauchnitz & publishing here at #BAVS2025! There is a little #Ouida chapter in it, too 😉
More #BAVS2025: Exploring travel & Orientalism, the colonial imagery of tea & labour, transatlantic tea rooms, & the domestic masculinity of Japonisme.
Starting #bavs2025 with a really fun séance & a panel in which I fall in love with illustration:
Today's #VPFAExtremes has assembled FIVE (5) whole #Ouida scholars in its hybrid space! A lovely Study Day 2023 re-union with Lorraine Dubuisson, @ouidaite.bsky.social, Crescent Rainwater, & @andrewkingc19.bsky.social ✨️🩷✨️
