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Dr Helena Esser

@helenaesser.bsky.social
339 followers 173 following 30 posts

she/her. Victorianist & dandypunk. My books on #Steampunk London & #Ouida out now! Co-hosting @VPFAThirdSex #3rdSex.

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Reposted by Dr Helena Esser
David Ibitson @arry-k-arry.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
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.
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Rebecca Nesvet @ttendthetale.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
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
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Emma Butler-Way @ebutler-way.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
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
doi.org
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…
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Bethany Dahlstrom @cryingtheoretic.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
When Jo said “up the grand looking staircase”, I wasn’t expecting these beautiful columns! Ready to kick off the conference now! #VPFAPublics
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From Queen Anne to Queen Victoria @qaqv.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
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/
qaqv.ia.uw.edu.pl
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...
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Roy Reads Anything @edgerat.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
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...
victorianpopularfiction.org
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…
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Victorian Popular Fiction Association @vpfa.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
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.
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Victorian Popular Fiction Association @vpfa.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
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...
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Victorian Popular Fiction Association @vpfa.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
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
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Victorian Popular Fiction Association @vpfa.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
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'.
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Dr Helena Esser @helenaesser.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Looking for some unusual neo-Victorian reads? The @vpfa.bsky.social blog's got you: victorianpopularfiction.org/is-neo-victo...
victorianpopularfiction.org
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…
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Dr Helena Esser @helenaesser.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
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...
youtube.com
Under Two Flags by Ouida: AMAZING LOST CLASSIC
YouTube video by Roy Reads Anything
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Victorian Popular Fiction Association @vpfa.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
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’.
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Dr Helena Esser @helenaesser.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Had an absolutely wonderful evening talking about Austen adaptations and why we love them at the local cinema. 🩷🩷🩷
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Aromanticism & Asexuality Research Network @aroaceresearch.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
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.
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Dr Helena Esser @helenaesser.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
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! 🎃🎃🎃
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Victorian Popular Fiction Association @vpfa.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
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...
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Julia Ditter @juliaditter.bsky.social · 03/10/2025
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
shorturl.at
OLHJ_CfP.pdf
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Dr Helena Esser @helenaesser.bsky.social · 09/10/2025
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...
victorianpopularfiction.org
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 …
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Dr Helena Esser @helenaesser.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
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: !!!!!!!!!!!
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Dr Helena Esser @helenaesser.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
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
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Victorian Popular Fiction Association @vpfa.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
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/
victorianpopularfiction.org
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 …
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Emma Butler-Way @ebutler-way.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
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!
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Library of Anglo-American Culture & History @libraryaac.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
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
Helen Esser's book "Steampunk London" on a wooden bench in a park setting
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Victorian Popular Fiction Association @vpfa.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
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...
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Victorian Popular Fiction Association @vpfa.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
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!
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Siobhan-Michelle Smith @smdsmith.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
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
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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
#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
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jeremynewton64.bsky.social @jeremynewton64.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
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.
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Dr Helena Esser @helenaesser.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
#BAVS2026 Day2: Exploring Oscar, travel, transcultural encounters, modes of gazing & enmeshing, and multiple stages & versions of female embodiment.
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Andrea Kaston Tange @aktange.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
Here's an excellent opportunity for anyone working on Margaret Oliphant! Please help spread the word. This special issue is looking for more contributors.
navsa.org
CFP: Special Issue of Women’s Writing on Margaret Oliphant at 200 (Proposal Deadline: 12/1/25) | NAVSA
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Dr Helena Esser @helenaesser.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
Excited to see our collection on Tauchnitz & publishing here at #BAVS2025! There is a little #Ouida chapter in it, too 😉
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Dr Helena Esser @helenaesser.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
More #BAVS2025: Exploring travel & Orientalism, the colonial imagery of tea & labour, transatlantic tea rooms, & the domestic masculinity of Japonisme.
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Dr Helena Esser @helenaesser.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
Starting #bavs2025 with a really fun séance & a panel in which I fall in love with illustration:
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Dr Helena Esser @helenaesser.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
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 ✨️🩷✨️
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Becca @beccalham.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
in the Third Sex Reading group conference session we were discussing Nebedita Sen's Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island. A very poignant commentary on literal, intellectual, cultural, and literary consumption #VPFAExtremes
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Helena Ifill @helenaifill.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
This year's 3rd Sex reading group session @vpfa.bsky.social was om "The Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island" - a remarkable short story that led to really interesting discussion! #vpfaextremes
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Helena Ifill @helenaifill.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
A great meal with great conference pals! @vpfa.bsky.social #VPFAextremes
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jeremynewton64.bsky.social @jeremynewton64.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
Great to see my fellow #BirkbeckVictorianist @helenaesser.bsky.social in action this morning, talking about #Ouida and spy fiction at the @vpfa.bsky.social conference in Birmingham. With fellow panellists Professor Claudia Capancioni and Dr. Alison Dingle.
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Helena Ifill @helenaifill.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
It's been a lovely 1st day at VPFA 2025! @vpfa.bsky.social #VPFAextremes
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Victorian Popular Fiction Association @vpfa.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
We're all a big family at VPFA! So great to see so many familiar and new faces joining us every year ❤️ #VPFAExtremes
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Anna Shane @annas1891.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Next we have Lucy Ella Rose discussing the decadent transformations of protagonists in Netta Syrett’s novels as they come to epitomise the transgressive extremes of the 'New Movement' #VPFAExtremes
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Anna Shane @annas1891.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
Next we have Professor Andrew King very appositely discussing the ‘Brummagem popularity’ of Granville Bantock’s song cycle Sappho #VPFAExtremes
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Anna Shane @annas1891.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
We now have Casey Reeves discussing Renee Vivien and Natalie Burney’s poetry and their use of Sappho to signal to the queer community #VPFAExtremes
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Dr Helena Esser @helenaesser.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
Just chaired an excellent first panel of #VPFAExtremes with fellow #Birkbeck Victorianists @janetteleaf.bsky.social, Jeremy Newton, & Gordon Bates on Hypnotic Gothic Fictions!
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Emma Butler-Way @ebutler-way.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Exciting new issue of VPFJ is now out in the world, featuring my review for Helena Esser's fantastic Steampunk London: Neo-Victorian Urban Space and Popular Transmedia Memory. I'm a big fan. Get your libraries on it. @vpfa.bsky.social @helenaesser.bsky.social doi.org/10.46911/TWO...
doi.org
Victorian Popular Fictions 7.1 8 Butler-Way
Helena Esser, Steampunk London: Neo-Victorian Urban Space and Popular Transmedia Memory. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2024, 248 pp. HB £85.00. ISBN: 9781350433908 Reviewed by Emma Butler-Way Downlo…
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Victorian Popular Fiction Association @vpfa.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
We are delighted to announce the winner of the 2024 VPFA Second Book Prize: Tara MacDonald, Narrative, Affect, and Victorian Sensation: Wilful Bodies (Edinburgh University Press, 2023). Prof. MacDonald will receive a £200 cash prize and be honoured at the Annual Conference AGM.
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Dr Helena Esser @helenaesser.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
"Ouida" has been selected as the runner-up to the VPFA Second Book Prize 2025! Thank you very much to the lovely scholars who supported this book and for these wonderful, generous reviews! ✨
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Dr Helena Esser @helenaesser.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
One week to go! Very excited for #VPFA 2025. I'll be hosting a killer reading group about queer cannibals and colonialism AND conclusively proving that #Ouida invented James Bond in my paper. 😎
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