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bars.bsky.social
British Association for Romantic Studies
@bars.bsky.social
2.8K followers 550 following 290 posts
The British Association for Romantic Studies supports the study of #c18th and #c19th literature and culture.
https://www.bars.ac.uk/main/
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bars.bsky.social
New network: The Eighteenth Century Ecologies Network, based at the University of York (@cecs-york.bsky.social)

More info on the blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6273
Poster for the Eighteenth Century Ecologies Network Seminar Series 2026, Heslington Hall, University of York, and Online: "Based at the University of York's Centre for Eighteenth Century Studies, the Eighteenth-Century Ecologies Network is a hub for researchers interested in the many diverse ecologies of the long eighteenth-century and Romantic periods. Through a regular seminar series beginning in early 2026, we aim to present the latest research in our field, allowing scholars from across the eighteenth-century humanities to engage with diverse and cutting-edge research from established and emergent scholars in the field. We thus hope to produce a network of mutually informed and engaged scholarship, with an eye always to the climate crisis. Visit us at: https://hzjs20.wixsite.com/eighteenth-century-e"
January 11, 2026 at 4:03 PM
bars.bsky.social
New BARS Digital Event Announcement: Re-reading the Minerva Press

Taking place 22 Jan 2026, 6pm GMT

For more info and to register for the Zoom link:
www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6265
January 10, 2026 at 11:46 AM
bars.bsky.social
New BARS Digital Event Announcement: Walking with Annette von Droste-Hülshoff and Dorothy Wordsworth

Taking place: Jan 14, 2026 05:00 PM GMT

For more details and to register: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6260
January 10, 2026 at 11:35 AM
bars.bsky.social
Many thanks to those of you who have already joined BARS in 2026! If you would still like to renew your membership, please see the friendly reminder below for details on how to do so!

www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6253
January 10, 2026 at 11:30 AM
bars.bsky.social
If you missed our digital events on 'Volcanic Romanticism' or 'Shelley's Anni Mirabiles', don't worry! You can catch up on the BARS Digital Events Youtube channel.

www.youtube.com/@barsdigital...
Screenshot of the BARS Digital Events Youtube channel. The most recent two videos are 'Shelley’s Anni Mirabiles: The Complete Poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley' and 'Volcanic Romanticism'.
December 10, 2025 at 2:03 PM
bars.bsky.social
CfP: Networks of Antiquity, University of Copenhagen, 7-8th May 2026

Abstracts due 31st January!
More info on the blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6237
CfP poster: "The antiquarian networks of the eighteenth century and Romantic era contributed to a fascinating constellation of multicultural, multilingual, exchange across the globe. The study of antiquarianism was a vastly popular pastime and scholarly pursuit in Europe, especially as a way of mapping ancient world cultures, religions, and politics onto contemporary society. The circulation of knowledge within local, national, and global networks paradoxically consolidated independent national exceptionalisms, as well as contributing to a budding multicultural globalism. Texts such as James Macpherson’s “Fragments of Ancient Poetry” (1763) prompted a revival of vernacular traditions across the British Isles like ballad imitations and Norse translations, while the establishment of the Society of Antiquaries in Britain encouraged the circulation and study of material culture. With the various inventive reimaginations of world mythologies, and as an oppressive vehicle for European imperial agendas, the study of vernacular antiquities during the long eighteenth century formed the critical foundations of contemporary worldviews via the lens of the past. Pre-dating Herder’s thesis about “Volksgeist, ” these antiquarian practices already constituted a rewriting of histories, memories, and cultures, and brought to the fore questions of heritage, identity, empire, trade, as well as the value ascribed to language. Through this global trade of antiquity in all its forms—material, textual, visual—both national and local European perspectives were brought into dialogue with alternate histories and the legacy of bygone eras. Networks of Antiquity is a two-day interdisciplinary conference held in person and in English at the University of Copenhagen. It aims to bring together scholars of Eighteenth Century Studies, Romanticism, and Reception Studies to examine how antiquarian networks across Europe and beyond created porous cultural borders during the long eighteenth century." Poster: "We welcome proposals for 20-minute papers that consider how European communities, networks, and individuals of the long eighteenth century engaged with antiquarian studies and cultural contexts regarding and those external to their own geographical borders. PAPERS MAY EXPLORE TOPICS INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO: Circuits of communication, letters, and objects Material culture and its popular or localised consumption Antiquarianism and visual culture Nordic antiquity, Northern antiquarianism, the Gothic The relationship and tensions between (neo-)Classical antiquity and vernacular traditions National vs local networks, the circulation of knowledge production Recollecting, reconstituting, and reinventing the past Adaptations and appropriations The Antiquarian as a figure/character Antiquarian Spaces: The Society of Antiquaries, libraries, museums, private vs. public exchange Exchange and Encounters: Transatlantic, Anglo-Nordic, Asiatic, etc. Geographies of antiquity, landscapes, scientific antiquarian travel Empire, trade, race, imperial and postcolonial perspectives Antiquarianism as a literary form and genre Stadial theory, Translation theory, Reception Studies, Memory Studies TO APPLY Please submit a 250-word abstract and 150-word biography to Sharon Choe (sharon.choe@hum.ku.dk) with the subject line : Networks of Antiquity Conference Submission. We are keen to encourage the participation of PhDs, early career researchers, and scholars on precarious employment contracts, and so will be offering bursaries to contribute towards travel to and accommodation in Copenhagen. Priority will be given to those without access to institutional financial support or external grant funding. To be considered for a bursary, please also provide a short 100-word application alongside your proposal, including your current institutional position and any research projects. Application deadline : 31 January 2026 Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by 10 February 2026"
December 8, 2025 at 11:00 PM
bars.bsky.social
Reminder: BARS Biennial International Conference 2026: Romantic Retrospection (University of Birmingham) – Call for Papers Deadline 30 November 2025

Updates on session calls & bursaries, plus details of how to submit at the links:

www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6101
www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/arts-...
November 18, 2025 at 12:58 PM
bars.bsky.social
BARS Independent Researcher Bursary Call for Applications
Independent researchers with an interest in any aspect of Romantic Studies (including literature, architecture, art, politics, culture, history etc) are invited to apply for the Independent Researcher Bursary.
www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6189
November 18, 2025 at 12:56 PM
bars.bsky.social
Reminder: BARS 2026 First Book Prize: Calls for Nominations
Awarded biennially for the best first monograph in Romantic Studies, this prize is open to first monographs published between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2025. More info at the link:

www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6174

Please share widely!
November 18, 2025 at 12:53 PM
bars.bsky.social
Reminder that the next Stephen Copley Award deadline is 15th November!

The Stephen Copley Research Award funds bursaries of up to £500 for postgraduate and early-career researchers. See the website for more information on eligibility and how to apply: www.bars.ac.uk/main/index.p...
Drawing of an archive box against an orange background, with the text "BARS Stephen Copley Research Awards Deadline November 15".
November 7, 2025 at 7:11 PM
bars.bsky.social
Reminder: CfP closes for BARS 2026 'Romantic Retrospection' at the University of Birmingham, UK, and online on 30 November.
Details below:
www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/arts-...
October 31, 2025 at 4:59 PM
bars.bsky.social
BARS News: Independent Researcher Bursary Call for Applications

Independent researchers with an interest in any aspect of Romantic Studies (literature, architecture, art, politics, culture, history etc) are invited to apply for the Independent Researcher Bursary. 

www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6189
October 17, 2025 at 10:53 AM
bars.bsky.social
BARS Stephen Copley Research Award - applications open (deadline Nov 15 2025)

Postgraduate researchers and ECRs working in Romantic Studies are invited to apply for a BARS Stephen Copley Research Award, to help fund research expenses up to a maximum of £500.

www.bars.ac.uk/main/index.p...
October 17, 2025 at 10:37 AM
bars.bsky.social
We would love YOU to write for the BARS Blog! If you have an idea for the blog or for our TikTok/Instagram channel, then please do get in touch! www.bars.ac.uk/blog/
More info ⤵️
October 17, 2025 at 10:29 AM
bars.bsky.social
BARS 2026 First Book Prize: Calls for Nominations
Awarded biennially for the best first monograph in Romantic Studies, this prize is open to first monographs published between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2025.
Deadline: 12th January 2026.
More info: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6174
October 10, 2025 at 3:59 PM
bars.bsky.social
The BARS President’s Fellowship is open to scholars from Black, Indigenous and other minority ethnic backgrounds working on any aspect of Romantic Studies to support research, teaching and/or public outreach expenses of up to £1500. Deadline 7th Nov 2025.
www.bars.ac.uk/main/index.p...
October 10, 2025 at 3:22 PM
bars.bsky.social
Our friends at ‘Romanticism across Borders’ are back! As in previous years, all events will continue to be held online, with the first one coming up soon.

The session will take place on Wednesday 22 October, on Zoom at 5.30pm (London time, or GMT+01, i.e. 6.30, Paris time).
October 10, 2025 at 3:16 PM
bars.bsky.social
Please see the blog post at the link below for results of the BARS Executive Elections 2025.

Thanks to those who stood for election, and to the membership for voting.

www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6146

Many thanks,
BARS Executive Committee
October 10, 2025 at 3:08 PM
bars.bsky.social
The newest issue of the BARS Review is now published! Check out issue 61 at the link below.
Thanks to all our wonderful reviewers!
www.bars.ac.uk/review/index...
October 6, 2025 at 9:44 AM
bars.bsky.social
Now on the BARS Blog: Symposium on Frankenstein in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Meiji University and online, Saturday 18th October www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6139
Japanese poster for the Frankenstein in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Symposium. English poster for the Frankenstein in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Symposium.
September 12, 2025 at 3:10 PM
bars.bsky.social
Remember that the online day of the BARS PGR & ECR conference is tomorrow! Find the full programme here: barsconference2025.wixsite.com/home (and in your email inbox if you’ve registered).
Online Overview Friday 12 September 11.15 — Opening Remarks 11.30 — Parallel Panels 1 13.00 — Lunch 14.00 — Keynote 15.15 — Break 15.30 — Parallel Panels 2 17.00 — Break 17.30 — Alternative Academic Careers Plenary Roundtable 19.00 — Closing Remarks.
September 11, 2025 at 4:12 PM
bars.bsky.social
After a brilliant day of papers and a monograph workshop at our PGR & ECR conference, Trinity College let us see some of their collection in the Wren Library, including PB Shelley’s famous register entry from the Hotel de Villes de Londres!
A group of people walking into the Wren Library, with a statue of Lord Byron at the back. The hotel register in which Shelley declared he was going to “L’Enfer”, and was a lover of humanity, democrat, and atheist. 1798 and 1800 editions of Lyrical Ballads, the former with Coleridge’s own annotations. A letter claiming to be Lord Byron’s first. The postscript reads, “I hope you will excuse all blunders as it is the first I ever wrote.”
September 4, 2025 at 7:25 PM
bars.bsky.social
📣Incoming BARS Communications Fellow 2025-2026 📣
We received a number of very high quality applications for the Comms Fellow position. We
are delighted to announce that the new Fellow working on the BARS Blog and social media in the next academic year is
Chloe Wilcox (@sadpphicstanza.bsky.social)
September 4, 2025 at 2:17 PM
bars.bsky.social
Our PGR & ECR conference begins tomorrow, but right now we’re being treated to a lovely exhibition at the St John’s College, Cambridge special collections!
@bars-ecrs-pgrs.bsky.social
A collection of Wordsworth material, including some portraits and a sonnet about the portrait. Some copies of Coleridge works, including an autograph annotated Christabel. A life mask of William Wordsworth. Three people taking a selfie with Wordsworth’s life mask.
September 3, 2025 at 3:41 PM
bars.bsky.social
BARS Members will have received an email entitled "BARS Executive Elections 2025: Voting Information for Members".

Please read the statements of the candidates at the two links below and make your votes via the link in your email.

www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6121
www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6128
September 2, 2025 at 7:04 PM