iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Our next virtual writing retreat will be held on 10th October. These retreats provide structured, dedicated time to get some writing done. If you are a VPFA member, check your emails to find the sign up link or email network.vpfa@gmail.com for more information.

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Jonathan Last @johnnythin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

For #FlintFriday, an anonymous poem about an arrowhead , published in the Kirkintilloch Herald 100 years ago this week. I don't usually care for verse written in archaic language (even for 1926) but I like the conceit at the end that in some post-apocalyptic future these things might be used again…

From the Kirkintilloch Herald, 29 Sep 1926 (via the British Newspaper Archive):
"Prehistoric Remains.
(A Flint Arrow-head Found on a Hill.)
The same wild hills are round me flung,
And this—the same stern brow,
But where's the hand that fashioned me,
Where is that hunter now?
With him I ranged the oaken wood,
The mountain clough in storm and flood,
When oft my barbs were red with blood—
O, hunter, where art thou?

The deer that loved yon northern hills,
Now looming bare and grey,
The wolf that oft, like lightning flash,
I flew so swift to slay,
The shaft to which he bound me true,
The springy bow of upland yew,
His bare strong arm once backward drew—
O, tell me, where are they?

I wake, and see the flight of time
From ages pale and wan,
The myriads that have come and gone
Since first my race began;
And I, a bit of fashioned stone,
Left on these moorlands, bleak and lone,
Have seen all that these hills have known
Of little human span.

Fling me afar among the ling,
Where I would ever be,
Till this proud Scotland hath returned
To her wild infancy ;
And when the ages long have rolled,
And Time repeats its usage old,
Some young barbarian, strong and bold,
Will head a shaft with me."

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Richard Fallon @richardfallon.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

A very roughly remembered but pleasingly early (1854) take on the @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social. Coloured engraving from Maclure, MacDonald & MacGregor, William Tegg & Co. Digital image © London Museum, Object ID: 58.22/49 (www.londonmuseum.org.uk/collections/...).

A print showing the full span of the Crystal Palace grounds.

A close-up of Waterhouse Hawkins's models, some more accurately drawn than others.

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Call for Papers ⚡: We are proud to collaborate with RSVP on the online study day 'Fiction in Victorian and Edwardian Socialist Periodicals'. Proposals should be 300 words and be sent to lvictoriansocialistperiodicals@protonmail.com Full CfP here: victorianpopularfiction.org/vpfa-rsvp-st...

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Thank you for bringing this article to the attention of our members! It's very interesting to think about the intersection between masculinity and romance novels. What makes romance acceptable 'enough' for men to read? It would make for a very interesting article!

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Dr Nuits de Young @nuitsdeyoung.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

@vpfa.bsky.social This is an interesting article. Surely the adventure stories of late 19-early 20C – Hope, Sabatini, & c – wd come under this heading? www.theguardian.com/books/2026/s...

theguardian.com

The secret lives of men who read romance books: ‘My life is full of love, so I’m drawn to them’

It’s often assumed straight men are not interested in romantic fiction – but many are sharing their passion in forums online

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Don't forget to sign up to our tea salon happening on Wednesday! A great opportunity to share all of those weird and wonderful archival materials or marginalia you've found but never had the opportunity to use in your work! Check your emails from us to sign up 🤩

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NEW BLOG POST 📢 Adding to our series of posts about Neo-Victorian horror, Rebecca Hamilton, VJ René, and Megan Nash reflect on the genre’s potential to voice the unspeakable in "The Era of Neo-Victorian Horror Cinema is Here"! Read the full post here: victorianpopularfiction.org/the-era-of-n...

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Join us for our next Tea Salon to dive into some of the more unique finds we've all come across in the archives. If you are a member, check your previous emails from us to sign up. Not a member? Sign up here: victorianpopularfiction.org/membership-j...

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The 2026 VPFA Mary Eliza Root prize is now open! Deadline: 30th September 2026. To see if you are eligible apply, and for more details, please go to: victorianpopularfiction.org/mary-eliza-r...

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Dr. Samantha Landau📚 @broomsticknpen.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

And it’s hybrid conference!! 💓

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Emma Butler-Marr @19thcenturyem.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Ohh my God it's like it was made for me 😂

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If you enjoyed this issue of VPFJ, please consider sending us a submission for the next general issue. Deadlines for submission are 31st January 2027. Find out more here: victorianpopularfiction.org/publications...

victorianpopularfiction.org

Victorian Popular Fictions

The Journal of the Victorian Popular Fiction Associationclick on the issue links below to accessOUT NOW! Issue 8.1 (Spring 2026)Issue 7.2 (Autumn 2025), a special number on Victorian Popular Fictio…

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VPFA are now accepting abstracts for our 19th Annual Conference "Beaches and Borders in Victorian Popular Fiction and Culture". To read the full CfP and submission guidelines, head to: victorianpopularfiction.org/vpfa-annual-...

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Emma Butler-Way @ebutler-way.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Featuring yours truly on Louisa May Alcott's *delightful* 'A Long Fatal Love Chase'. I feel very lucky to be able to have enormous fun reading a novel, then enjoy presenting on the novel at a conference, before then having even more fun researching and writing about it in more depth...

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We are very excited to share yet another addition to the Key Popular Women Writers Series: congratulations to Susan Civale on the publication of Mary Shelley! 🎉 This study reveals previously unseen continuities in Shelley's work and affinities with other women writers!

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“Jo Turner is, without a doubt, this generation’s foremost Corelli scholar. Her work offers a comprehensive review of one hundred years of Corelli reviews, biographies, early criticism and present scholarship."

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For The Third Sex Reading Group's first session back after summer, they will be looking at The Lilac People by Milo Todd. This is a novel about Nazi Germany and the trans community. If you'd like to attend, please send us an email with the subject FAO: Third Sex to vpfareadinggroup@gmail.com

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Feeling that midweek slump? Why don't you sign up to our writing retreat to get your creative juices flowing again? If you are a VPFA member, check your previous emails from us for a sign-up link. If you are not a member and want to join, become one here: victorianpopularfiction.org/membership-j...

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There is much literary and cultural analysis and it exclusively unveils a newly-discovered Corelli pseudonym. Turner presents Corelli as a formidable and fascinating figure with keen commercial instincts.

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Huge congratulations to Joanna Turner on the publication of her new book, Marie Corelli, in our Key Popular Women Writers Series!! 🎉 The book explodes the myths of prior biographies, revealing Corelli the performer, her working-class roots, and her hidden periodical publications of the 1870s.

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Emma Butler-Way is back with another post in the 'On This Day in the Pages of the Victorians' series: August 28th! We have updates on Queen Victoria, advice for sweethearts, home remedies, and musical scores 🎼 Read the full post here: victorianpopularfiction.org/on-this-day-...

victorianpopularfiction.org

On This Day in the Pages of the Victorians: 28th August

A selection by Emma Butler-WayWe have a bumper issue of ‘On This Day’ today! If you want to know what Queen Victoria was up to, or if the periodicals have any advice for sweethearts look no further…

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Dr Joanna Turner @coppertapestry.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

What a wonderful feeling – it’s publication day for my book on Marie Corelli! Thanks to my amazing editors @helenaifill.bsky.social and Janine Hatter for all their support. I’m so proud to be a contributor to their series on Key Popular Women Writers. @vpfa.bsky.social @lboroenglish.bsky.social

The cover for Marie Corelli by Joanna Turner. It depicts an image of a woman in Victorian dress, standing on a rock and pointing out to sea. Her hair is blowing in the breeze.

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Emma Butler-Way @ebutler-way.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Today sees another entry for the @vpfa.bsky.social Blog's On This Day series, featuring royal happenings, a volatile convalescent, notes on quietness, advice for sweethearts, miracle cures, and some musical notes... victorianpopularfiction.org/on-this-day-...

victorianpopularfiction.org

On This Day in the Pages of the Victorians: 28th August

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NEW BLOG POST 🧟‍♀️👻 Shannon looks at newly trending Neo-Victorian horror fiction and reflects on both its global interest and its appeal to readers living in unhinged times. Read the full post here: victorianpopularfiction.org/exacting-rev...

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Rebecca said that it was so good she wanted to see it twice. It's only on until August 15th, so you better grab your tickets fast!: www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/.../sweeney-...

birmingham-rep.co.uk

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We are delighted to share with you two new wonderful publications by VPFA members! Gothic Masculinities in the Victorian Age, ed. by Ruth Heholt and Mariaconcetta Constantini and Valerie Fehlbaum's edited collection of Ella Hepworth Dixon's short stories, Sidelights on the Feminine Temperament.

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Liz Hedgecock @lizhedgecock.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

...for the @vpfa.bsky.social conference at @ljmuofficial.bsky.social. I was on with JC Briggs, who writes the Charles Dickens Investigates series, and we had a great time (and some lovely feedback). #booksky #amwriting #historicalmystery #victorianmystery #authorupdate 3/?

The Moot Room at Liverpool John Moores uni, which was the roundtable venue. It used to be a chapel and still has the vaulted ceiling and stained glass. Some of my book covers (and those of JC Briggs) are displayed on a big screen. Get me!

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Thank YOU for presenting such a wonderful paper! We hope to see you presenting another one with us again next year 😀

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Emilie Laurent @emilieslaurent.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

Truly honored and deeply grateful to have been awarded the Greta Depledge Prize for best postgraduate paper, given by @vpfa.bsky.social at its 18th annual conference for my paper on Arthur Machen’s manipulative storytelling. This award means more to me than I can put into words. Thank you ❤️

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Helen McKenzie @helenmckenzie.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

An emotional week... The fabulous @vpfa.bsky.social Conference #VPFAPublics full of fascinating papers, wine, and time with old and new friends! Then my last Sat teaching with Saturn Dance full of kind words, hugs, and tears (mostly mine!). A sensible if sad decision to scale back. Thank you all 🥹

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Our 18th Annual Conference is now over, and some of you may be staving off the post-VPFA conference depression. Not to worry, because we have JUST the cure: Volume 8, issue 1 of Victorian Popular Fictions Journal 🤩💫 Read it online here: victorianpopularfiction.org/publications...

victorianpopularfiction.org

Table of Contents ArticlesJulia Kuehn and Diane Eveline van den Brink. The Good, the Bad, and the Popular: The Question of a Popular Canon and Other Methodological ContemplationsLinda K. Hughes. Cr…

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Dr Joanna Turner @coppertapestry.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

This is SO GOOD! Julia Kuehn and Diane Eveline Van den Brink open the latest issue of @vpfa.bsky.social journal with a polemical article that includes a case study featuring Wilkie Collins and Marie Corelli.

victorianpopularfiction.org

The Good, the Bad, and the Popular: The Question of a Popular Canon and Other Methodological ContemplationsJulia Kuehn and Diane Eveline van den BrinkDownload PDF hereAbstractThis article challenge…

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Claudia @ccapancioni.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Thank you so much #VPFAPublics. What a fantastic conference and so much to look forward to thanks to @vpfa.bsky.social wonderful community!!!

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Emma Butler-Way @ebutler-way.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

A *fantastic* time at #VPFAPublics the last few days. Fascinating papers, fruitful discussions (Some fun things on the horizon)... Caught up with old pals, made some new ones - every year I'm blown away by the incredible warmth of @vpfa.bsky.social. All the thanks to Jo and Janine for organising!

Sunset view over the River Mersey from Albert Docks. Old lamppost in the foreground

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Claudia @ccapancioni.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

After many ideas and productive conversations, the second day of #VPFAPublics ended with a joyful conference dinner. We are starting with a much awaited keynote first thing tomorrow morning: Tara MacDonald’s ‘Public Institutions, Private Care: Sex Work and Care Work in Victorian Popular Fiction’.

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Dr Anne-Marie Beller FRHistS @braddonite.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

The Bodies panel was certainly one of my favourites too. Fascinating research presented at #VPFAPublics day 2.

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Bethany Dahlstrom @cryingtheoretic.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Starstruck 🤩 Got to meet one of my academic heroes today and hear her amazing keynote on sex work and care work in Victorian Pop Fiction. How can we be more caring and sympathetic in our community social care systems? #VPFAPublics @tara-macdonald.bsky.social

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Bethany Dahlstrom @cryingtheoretic.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

@andrewkingc19.bsky.social talking about how Victorians marketed Pop Fiction - and I’m very excited to learn more about Victorian marketing, particularly design and product placement! Makes me think of my trawling through Punch for crumbs of context! #VPFAPublics

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Bethany Dahlstrom @cryingtheoretic.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Can you imagine trying to de-anonymise 22 Victorian sensation novels? Because Janine Hatter can! What an amazing project 😱 #VPFAPublics

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Bethany Dahlstrom @cryingtheoretic.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

“Murder by beast rampage” just makes me think of “30-50 wild hogs” 🤣🤣 #VPFAPublics

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Bethany Dahlstrom @cryingtheoretic.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Welcome to our new VPFA co-President, Claudia Capancioni! #VPFAPublics

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Dr Anne-Marie Beller FRHistS @braddonite.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

@helenmckenzie.bsky.social ‘s new research on Braddon’s letters to the RLF and philanthropy more generally is very exciting and points to some really fruitful new areas of discovery.

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Liz Hedgecock @lizhedgecock.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Had a great day yesterday at ‘The Victorians and their Publics’ conference at @ljmuofficial.bsky.social, courtesy of @vpfa.bsky.social. I learnt lots and have more books and stories to add to the reading pile! #booksky #authorevent #academicconference 1/2

The Moot Room at Liverpool John Moores University (it's a former chapel, hence the vaulted roof and stained glass). The big screen has book covers displayed on it, some of which are my Sherlock books and some of which are JC Briggs' Charles Dickens Investigates books.

A pic of the front of the conference programme giving conference name, date and venue (as in main skeet).

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With every narrative address, there is an underlying message to the real business people who find time to pick up her works telling them "I see you, I respect you" #VPFAPublics

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