iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Thoroughly enjoyed presenting my paper on Sea Shanties at #BAVS2026. Loved the audience engagement so much I almost burst into song! @19birkbeck.bsky.social @bavs-uk.bsky.social. Great to have reconnected with fellow Victorianists & Birkbeckians #victorian #nineteenth-century #liverpool #shanties

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Dr Jen Baker @jendeavour.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Final chapter! @janetteleaf.bsky.social shows how the sub-genre of spectral insects in Golden Age ghost stories inspire fear of what was once fleshly and is now transformed into the insubstantial and the exoskeletal. Bugs that go “Boo!” make the skin crawl like nothing else can. #NewDirections👻 🐜🕷🪳🐛

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Huge excitement! I've written a chapter on 'Bugs that go "Boo!", and my contributing author's copy of New Directions in the Ghost story arrived today. Thanks to fabulous editors & fellow writers @jendeavour.bsky.social @joanpassey.bsky.social @henrybartholomew.bsky.social (@19birkbeck.bsky.social)

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

Our second 'Dracula' adaption this season - this time with fantastic beat-boxing, a capella pop songs. and a really funny script by Dan Paterson. Park theatre is a great little venue too. #Gothic #Dracula #nineteenthcentury #FrontRowFun

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Dr Emily Vincent @dremilyvincent.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

Sign up for this week and next week’s online #Halloween #Gothic events with @gothicauob.bsky.social and @cncsi.bsky.social 🎃⬇️

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Delighted to take up my 3rd Birkbeck Honorary Research Fellowship today. Looking back at some of the 30 conference papers I've presented since being awarded my doctorate, I'm excited for 2025-2026. @19birkbeck.bsky.social @theprofrog.bsky.social @drvickymills.bsky.social @luisacale.bsky.social

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

Bathed in blood-red light at #Dracula @lyrichammersmith.bsky.social soaking up the staging, centring of the relationship between Mina and Lucy, & Mina's key editorial role. Nice nod to those in the know with the appearance of the yellow-backed 1897 edition! Loved it! #Gothic @indiekid.bsky.social

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Happy Birthday to Beatrix Potter: born 28 July 1866! An incredible woman: a writer, illustrator, nature lover and natural scientist, botanist, mycologist, entomologist, zoologist, archaeologist . . .

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Devin Garofalo @devingarofalo.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

When you are determining where to submit your scholarly essay for potential publication & you opt not to send it to a specific journal bc their publisher is, say, licensing “content” to train AI — please tell the journal editor. This info is crucial for editors but shadowy / difficult to document.

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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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Dr Andrew McInnes @drbeard79.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

CFP for Sex in the #19thC (deets in alt) Abstracts (300 words), biographies (100 words), and should be submitted on Monday 22d September 2025 to rrr @ soton.ac.uk. Please indicate if you would like to be considered for a travel bursary, and include your full name, discipline & institution.

CFP with caricature of a throuple on a sofa: a man in the middle between two women with breasts more or less exposed

Sex in the Long Nineteenth Century
15th January 2026
University of Stirling, Scotland
Keynote speaker: Dr. Michael Shaw
In The History of Sexuality (1976), Foucault outlines the 'discursive explosion' that occurred around
sex during the long nineteenth century. Sexuality became a distinct personal identity for the first time, as shown in literature and art, and sexual discourses often reflected the period's political and
social anxieties around gender and power. Modern queer theorists first situated their work within
nineteenth-century studies (Eve Kofosky Sedgewick, Between Men, 1985), and recent work in the
field historicises marginalised groups (Jen Manion, Female Husbands: A Trans History, 2020). Sex
encourages us to consider the broader cultural and societal dynamics of the long nineteenth century, and the lasting influence of these structures today.
We invite papers of 15 minutes on the topic of sex in the long nineteenth century (1789-1914) in all its forms and in a global context for our in-person conference. We encourage broad interpretations of the topic and invite submissions that explore its fluid and multifaceted nature. The journal
encourages multi- and interdisciplinary papers from across the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities and invites contributions from those at any career stage, including PGRs and ECRs.
Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:
• Sexuality and queer studies • Women's writing
• Gender, feminism, and masculinities • Sexual health, contraception, and the medical
• Trans studies humanities
• Pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare • Sex work
• Sex scandals in court and politics • Print culture; pornography and Victorian erotica
• Gothic literature • Postcolonial and ecocritical perspectives on
• Decadence; hedonism gender and sex

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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · 15/07/2025

Bye forever, WeTransfer.

WeTransfer TOS says they can use all your uploaded content for genAI

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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

My cartoon for this week’s @theguardian.com books.

Two figures approach the Baggage Reclaim area of an airport.

One says “We wouldn't need to put things in the hold if you brought fewer books on holiday.”

Arriving on the carousel, amongst the bags and suitcases is a very large, well-stocked bookcase.

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Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 19/07/2025

Architect Alfred Waterhouse born #OTD 1830 to a Liverpool Quaker family. Buildings include Manchester Town Hall, London’s Natural History Museum, Liverpool University's Victoria building. His love of red brick and terracotta led to him being nicknamed 'Slaughterhouse Waterhouse'.

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Chris Louttit @drchrislouttit.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

Also, if you're working on C19 sources, see @patrickleary.bsky.social's invaluable list of open-access 19th-c periodicals here:

victorianresearch.org

VRW: Open Access Periodicals

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

‪Still buzzing after an amazing #VPFAextremes conference! What a treat to hear so many talented speakers and to present on Hypnotic Gothic alongside Birkbeck pals! @vpfa.bsky.social #Gothic #victorian

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John J Johnston @johnjjohnston.bsky.social · 18/02/2025

Delighted to welcome my splendid colleagues at @issegyptomania.bsky.social to Bluesky 🦋. Please consider giving them a follow on this platform, or even in becoming a member, they do incredible work on the reception of ancient Egypt and host numerous online lectures, seminars, and conferences!

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De Morgan Foundation @demorganfoundation.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

New exhibition launching at the Guildhall Art Gallery, London, soon! One of the most remarkable artists of her generation, Evelyn De Morgan, is returning to Guildhall Art Gallery this April in an exhibition that premieres two newly restored artworks. Find out more: bit.ly/3QftfhI

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Pre-Raphaelite Society @preraphaelitesoc.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

Go follow our friends at the De Morgan Foundation, who have just joined Blue Sky. They have the most amazing collection of Evelyn De Morgan art and William De Morgan ceramics.

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Roses are red Violets are purple Brain's flailing about Like an upside-down turtle! #AcademicValentine #AmNotWriing

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Briony Neilson @brionyneilson.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

The real-life models for Grant Wood’s American Gothic – Nan Wood Graham (Wood's sister) and Dr Byron McKeeby (Wood's dentist) – sitting in front of the painting at an exhibition at the Cedar Rapids Public Library (Wood's hometown) in 1942

B&w photo of two people sitting in front of Grant Wood’s painting “American Gothic”

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

May your insects bring more singing and less stinging in the coming year!

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 25/12/2024

Seasons Greetings! Hope you're enjoying it as much as Starevich's 1913 insects gathered around the Christmas tree!

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 05/12/2024

Christina Rossetti was born #otd in 1830. Her poem 'In the Bleak Midwinter' was originally published by Scribners in January 1872 as 'A Christmas Carol'. Gustav Holst set it to music in 1906. It was my father's favourite! @wikivictorian.bsky.social @19birkbeck.bsky.social @c19qmul.bsky.social

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

#Macbeth west end. Tennant, as always, was great at Shakespearean unhinged. All sound through headphones. No on-stage witches. Atmospheric music. Minimalist monochrome staging. Glass screen divided acting space. Lady Macbeth's white dress invited blood, but remained spotless! Prefer Terry's beetles!

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

I love the response of @dreframss.bsky.social to the question asked by @phdhurtbrain.bsky.social about which novel demands a Muppet re-make! I couldn't agree more that The Beetle would be an instant hit. I'm suggesting Miss Piggy for Marjorie Lindon, Kermit for Robert Holt & Animal for Atherton!

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

The best way to enjoy a #Victorian Christmas is with an intelligent #Dickens #ConanDoyle mash-up: A Sherlock Carol! Holmes is haunted by ghosts until he solves a case. Great fun. Lots of in-jokes for Victorianists! @drchrislouttit.bsky.social @victorianlondon.bsky.social @dickenssociety.bsky.social

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

On 03 December 1926, #AgathaChristie disappeared into the night. Her abandoned car was discovered containing her driving licence, fur coat and dressing case, but no clue to her whereabouts. Conan Doyle enlisted a clairvoyant to find her. 11 days later, she was found! (Image: Daily Mirror 07.12.26)

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Lesley A Hall @erinacean.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Optimist: the cup is half full Pessimist: the cup is half empty Archivist: either way, it is not permitted in the Reading Room

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Dr Andrew McInnes @drbeard79.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Optimist: The cup is half full. Pessimist: The cup is half empty. Literary critic: Difficulty and Opportunity: Liminality and the Cup in the Cultural Imaginary, 1789-1914

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Sometimes Christmas accidentally acquires a tinge of the #Gothic - epitomised for me by a partially-mummified, zombie snowman pursued by relentless reindeer!

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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · 02/11/2024

My cartoon for this weekend’s Guardian Books.

A man turns to a woman and asks "Who's that?"
"He asked." adds an odd figure standing across the room, wearing a top hat and holding a cane.

The woman answers "It's the narrator. He's been following me around all day.
Commenting on everything. It's very annoying!".
"She said ungratefully." says the narrator.

The couple shout "Get out of our house!"
"They shouted cruelly at the unfortunate narrator who was only doing his job." says the narrator as he leaves.

"And that, dear reader" says the narrator, now standing in the dark garden watching the couple through a window "was the exact moment when I decided to become the sort of narrator who turns out to be the murderer."

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 26/03/2024

I envisage Evelyn de Morgan's seated, concentrating woman in The Love Potion (1903) as Leighton's indolent Flaming June (1895) awoken as a Medieval scholar if her books are any indication! Both are depicted as redheads (even brunette Jane Morris) clad in cascading folds of rich orange! Thoughts?

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 25/03/2024

Agrigento is an incredible architectural site! Here is a miniscule me inadvertently colour co-ordinated with a gigantic fallen statue in the foreground. Brings to mind thoughts of our own smallness against the vastness of history - or maybe a Sicilian Ozymandias and fallen Empires!

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 08/01/2024

Born on this auspicious day for music and science: Alfred Russel Wallace (1823), Elvis Presley (1935), Steven Hawking (1942), David Bowie (1947) - and my husband! Photo of the first in the list, not the last!

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 31/12/2023

Here's hoping 2024 is filled with music, and nothing bugs us! Happy New Year!

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 15/12/2023

Egyptomania & ghosts are two of my favourite subjects! Beneath the C19th Egyptian pyramid tomb in Rodney Street, Liverpool, sits William MacKenzie, who (legend has it) refused to lie down & be buried in the hope of cheating the devil out of his soul. His unquiet spirit now walks! #gothic #ghosts

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 05/12/2023

A film centred on Dracula's assistant & exploring his psychology & entomophagy-fuelled superpowers made "Renfield" a must see for me. 🧛🪰But under-use of acting talent and over-use of gore made it a bore! It took me 3 attempts to get through it because I fell asleep twice!! Great idea badly executed.

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 30/11/2023

Jan Sanders Van Hemessen's "Vanity" (1535) is unusual in depicting an angel with insectile wings. The artists is using the butterfly's associations with the soul which triumphs over the skull of death in the mirror. Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille. #GothicInsects

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 29/11/2023

Revelling in Egyptological refs in Netflix's "The Fall of the House of Usher": scarab revivification icon used as Gold Bug branded beauty product; illicit trade in mummification tools exposing lack of ethics; collapsing hopes for immortality; a blank-eyed jewelled stare! #EdgarAllanPoe #egyptomania

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John J Johnston @johnjjohnston.bsky.social · 28/11/2023

Thrilled to see that the BBC Press Office has released details of the forthcoming adaptation of Conan Doyle’s LOT NO. 249, along with the first tantalising image from the production. I’m indebted to @jamescswanton.bsky.social for the advance notice! #Egyptology #Reception #Egyptomania

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 28/11/2023

Today in #Gothic conference mode! I'm exploring Boothby's Pharos, Corelli's Ziska and Orientalist art in "The Consumer Becomes the Confused". Excited to be presenting on the same online panel as @c19thceleb.bsky.social. Hope the weird faeries of tech are feeling kindly disposed to us!

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 27/11/2023

Saying hi for the first time on Bluesky with John Singer Sargent's portrait of Ellen Terry as Lady MacBeth (1889). So many of my research interests encapsulated in one magnificent piece of art - beetle wings; redhead; C19th painting etc. Took this in person at the Tate Britain! What a privilege!

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