International Centre for Victorian Women Writers (ICVWW)

The Being Human Festival programme preview has gone live today - and guess who's in the highlights! Better sharpen up your critical thinking skills...

2026 Being Human Festival Programme Preview From soil-powered photography to an escape room in a Victorian prison cell, here’s a snapshot of what you can expect at Being Human Festival 2026.

Regulars will know that from time to time Carolyn finds opportunities to sneak Dickens into ICVWW posts. Thank you Queen Victoria (and the Broadstairs Dickens Festival) for creating just such an opportunity...

We are back with another VPFA Executive Committee Spotlight. Get to know our Membership Secretary, Siobhan-Michelle Smith:

1) Who you are and what is your role on VPFA?
I'm Siobhan and I am the membership secretary for the VPFA. I'm the one who emails you to remind you to pay every year and welcomes new members. I also maintain the membership spreadsheet and (hopefully) keep the contact details of all members up to date.

2) When did you join the VPFA?
I joined the VPFA in 2022 when I discovered (and fell in love with) the Third S*x Reading Group. I started my role as membership secretary last April (2025).

3) What are your research interests?
My research interests are gender, non-conformity, q***rness and the construction of femininity. I am also interested in research methodology, especially digital humanities and quantitative analysis. The focus of my PhD is how women's moustaches are represented in nineteenth-century writing.

4) An author/ book you think that everyone should read
George Egerton's Keynotes and Discords (1893-94) is one of my favourites, as is Rudyard Kipling's Mark of the Beast (1890).

5) What do you love about VPFA?
What I love about being membership secretary is reading the "research interests" section on new members' membership forms; they are so fascinating and varied. I have had many conversations via email about shared interests or about something I have never heard of before - the most recent being the term "blue humanities" (in reference to the ocean). What I love most about the VPFA is the vast amount on offer - not just the annual conference, but the networking opportunities, study days and reading groups etc. I have also found them to be an incredibly inclusive, welcoming and friendly organisation, which is why I jumped at the chance to join them in an official capacity

Research on Victorian corsets by a Nottingham student (and honorary member of ICVWW) for the award-winning exhibition Villiers Revealed: ‘We Have Always Been Here’. Melissa's essay is at https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/clas/departments/culturalmediaandvisualstudies/research/visioning-a-creative-and-cultural-county/blog/blog-posts/tracking-liberation-and-subjugation-through-clothing.aspx
You can see the virtual exhibition at https://www.cultureleicestershire.co.uk/projects/villiers-revealed-welcome-to-our-virtual-exhibition/explore-the-exhibition/

Explore the exhibition | Culture Leicestershire - Heritage, Libraries, Collections and Learning Villiers Revealed: ‘We Have Always Been Here’ This exhibition uncovers hidden q***r histories and stories of erasure, power, and resistance. Centred on George Villiers, a 17th-century duke from Melton Mowbray,...

This is the kind of thing we need: Helen Kingstone on Victorians Versus Ageism.

Victorians Versus Ageism How can we end ageism? By understanding how the Victorians invented it. Helen Kingstone examines the work of nineteenth-century Scottish novelist Margaret Oliphant.

Would you like to co-create a ballad celebrating life on the Kent coast? Digital Drama is running a course of 3 free writers' workshops to be held at St Mary's Art Centre, Sandwich, in May and June to tell the story of Deal and Sandwich through contemporary verse. If you are interested in joining us, no previous experience is needed; email [email protected] to book your place. There are limited places, so book your place in the workshops today!
See www.digitaldrama.org/project/salt-and-stone for more information about the project, which is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and our partners at Deal Museum, Sandwich Guildhall Museum and Kent Maps Online.
Please forward to anyone you think may be interested...
Deal Museum Sandwich Guildhall Museum & Archives St Mary's Arts Centre Sandwich Festival Thanet Creative Canterbury Festival KentLive KentOnline News The Deal Society

Game changer - now we can all get our favourite books from Mudie's!

Mudie's Library Online Mudie's Library Online Catalogue - UCD Centre for Cultural Analytics, University College Dublin

konfer is very much not just for STEM - but it IS a great place to find collaborators outside humanities disciplines...

Bridging Technology and Tradition Through University Businesss Collaboration Canterbury Christ Church University pioneers digital heritage collaboration. Carolyn Oulton, the lead academic on the project, explains: “NCUB's konfer platform pushed the boundaries of the possible. Through the connections we made we are now able to do things we thought out of scope. It has genui...