Robert Wedderburn and the “Red and Black Atlantic”: Radicalism, Insurrection, Anti-Slavery

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Contact: RobertWedderburn200@gmail.com for conference enquiries

27th-28th September 2024 – for more information see the website here.

2024 marks the bi-centenary of the publication of Robert Wedderburn’s unsparing antislavery memoir The Horrors of Slavery (1824). This conference uses the occasion to revisit Wedderburn as a crucial figure in transatlantic radicalism, insurrectionism, and abolitionism, exploring not only his works and their importance but the broader “Red and Black Atlantic” of which he was a part.

This includes the people, ideas and cultures that shaped Wedderburn’s life and work through slavery and resistance; the influence of his mother Rosanna and maternal grandmother Talky Amy; theological and political liberation; the politics of abolition from below; gender, sexuality and resistance; and the connection between working class and anti-slavery cultures across the Atlantic world. Beyond the individual, we will also explore the resonances of such themes in the 200 years since publication.

We invite proposals for 20-minute presentations of any format, as well as traditional 20-minute papers and pre-formed panels of three. We especially encourage submissions from early-career researchers and scholars working outside universities.

The organisers envisage that the papers delivered at this conference will form the basis for a special issue of a journal.

To propose a paper or panel, please send an abstract of around 250 words per presentation to RobertWedderburn200@gmail.com before midnight on 15 June 2024.

Possible themes for papers include, but are not limited to:

Wedderburn’s life, work, legacy, and contemporary relevance for modern radical and antiracist movements

  • Wedderburn’s life, work, legacy, and contemporary relevance for modern radical and antiracist movements
  • Rosanna, Talky Amy and genealogies of resistance
  • Radical and resisting women
  • The relationship between radicalism and antislavery in the Atlantic world
  • Insurrectionary traditions in the Caribbean and British islands
  • British working-class and labour cultures in colonial contexts
  • Class, race, and gender dynamics of popular uprisings
  • Complications and nuances of transatlantic resistance and solidarity between enslaved and labouring people
  • The regional and global ramifications of the Haitian Revolution and other Caribbean wars for freedom, e.g. Tacky’s War
  • Local intellectual milieux for Wedderburn e.g. Kingston, Edinburgh, London
  • Visions for decolonisation and anticolonialism in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Caribbean.

The Literary Arboretum, Wordsworth Grasmere

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Date: 20th July

The Romantic period forever changed the way that we view the relationship between humans and the natural world. Romantic writers like William Wordsworth explored the wonder and beauty of nature, from the majestic fells of the Lake District to the humblest wildflower in his garden. To Wordsworth, trees were not only a source of wood to build with or to burn, but inspirational and beautiful living things.

This day of free events celebrates our relationship with trees in art, literature and culture, from the Romantic period 200 years ago through to the modern day. Listen to fascinating talks, head out on a guided walk, or take a writing workshop with a poet – and, most importantly, spend time enjoying nature and the outdoors!

Booking Page: https://wordsworth.org.uk/blog/events/the-literary-arboretum/

Schedule:

  • 10.30-11.30am: Trees and the development of ecological understanding in the work of Beatrix Potter (Dr Penny Bradshaw)
  • 12.00-1.30pm: Is it the sea you hear in me?: Speaking with Trees (Dr Polly Atkin)
  • 2.30-3.30pm: Seeing the Trees for the Wood: Romantic Forests and Forestry (Professor Fiona Stafford)
  • 3.50-5.00pm: Tree Talk and Walk (Dr Anna Burton and Dr Amanda Blake Davis)

Places for some events are limited. Booking is required for each event.

About the project:

This event is funded by the University of Derby and is affiliated with the collaborative project Romantic Trees: The Literary Arboretum, 1740-1840, led by Dr Amanda Blake Davis and Dr Anna Burton.

Call for Applications: BARS Communications Assistant 2024-25

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The British Association for Romantic Studies (BARS) would like to invite applications for a Communications Assistant to assist with the BARS Blog and social media for a period of one year tenable from July 2024. We are looking for someone with previous experience of using blogs and social media for academic purposes. This position is paid an honorarium of £750 and is open to all postgraduate students and early career researchers working in Romantic Studies anywhere in the world. This role will require around 1-2 hours per week.

Responsibilities will include:

  • Leading and contributing to existing BARS Blog series, including ‘On This Day’ and ‘Romantic Reimaginings’.
  • Proposing and curating new blog posts/series.
  • Writing, filming, and creating TikTok videos.
  • Liasing with contributors to the blog/TikTok/social media.
  • Delivering an active and strategic social media presence.
  • Attending online meetings with members of the BARS Executive Committee.

The successful applicant will work closely with the Communications Officer, Amy Wilcockson.

This post is an excellent career-development opportunity for a PhD student or early career researcher. You will have the chance to develop valuable skills in the field of scholarly communications and to contribute to the BARS postgraduate community. You will gain valuable skills (website management, content creation and digital communications) which will be useful in academic and non-academic roles alike. We expect that this role will be held alongside other academic or professional commitments such as completing a research project and/or teaching, and we encourage flexible working. 

Essential requirements:

Desirable experience: 

  • Previous involvement in writing or editing blog posts 
  • Experience of using WordPress 
  • Skilled in using social media for professional purposes, specifically experience of using Twitter/X, BlueSky, TikTok, and Facebook

To apply: please send an academic CV (up to two pages) and personal statement of 500 words explaining why you are best placed to undertake the duties above to britishassociationromantic@gmail.com by 14 June 2024.
Informal enquiries can be directed to Amy Wilcockson at amy.wilcockson@glasgow.ac.uk  

Call for Papers: ‘Robert Fergusson’s Textual Legacies in the 250 Years Since his Death’

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Date: Friday 6th September

Location: Advanced Research Centre, University of Glasgow.

Download the CfP here.

We are inviting scholars and enthusiasts to the University of Glasgow for a day symposium dedicated to the life, works and legacy of Scots poet Robert Fergusson.

This symposium commemorates 250 years since the death of the influential poet, Robert Fergusson (1750-1774). A key Scottish poet of the eighteenth century, Fergusson’s career was prolific: despite having only six creative years, Fergusson’s output of over one hundred poems and songs is substantial. His poems were written in English and Scots, and often heavily influenced by the reality of his Edinburgh surroundings. His most famous poems include Auld Reikie, ‘The Ghaists: A Kirkyard Eclogue’, ‘Leith Races’, and ‘The Daft-Days’.

This symposium will allow reflection on Fergusson’s works and legacies, and disseminate participants’ ongoing research across a diverse audience. As Fergusson influenced Robert Burns, Hugh MacDiarmid, Sidney Goodsir Smith, Robert Garioch and Edwin Morgan amongst others, the symposium will also allow re-examination of these lines of literary transmission. Fergusson similarly allows analysis of the role of the poet in the emerging public sphere – he was a ‘periodicals poet’, publishing many of his poems in the Edinburgh-based Weekly Magazine, or Edinburgh Amusement. This allowed him to respond to ongoing debates quickly, demonstrating his unique place in Scotland’s public sphere in the 1760s/1770s.

We welcome papers on topics relating to Fergusson and his textual legacies. Topics may include:

  • Fergusson’s own writing.
  • responses to Fergusson’s work (whether adaptations; creative response including plays, artworks, or poetry; translation, etc.).
  • Fergusson’s influence on other key figures (including, but not limited to: Robert Burns; Robert Louis Stevenson; Hugh MacDiarmid; Robert Garioch; Sydney Goodsir Smith; Edwin Morgan; Tom Leonard; Les Murray; Kathleen Jamie, etc.).
  • poetry in Scots in and since the eighteenth century.
  • the ‘periodicals poet’ and the role of the poet in later periodicals.

We would be thrilled to receive abstracts for individual papers of 250 words, plus a brief speaker biography. Please send all abstracts as a PDF or Word document to Dr Amy Wilcockson at amy.wilcockson@glasgow.ac.uk by Monday 1st July 2024. If you have any questions, please direct them to the same address.

The symposium is free to attend, and organised as part of the Leverhulme Trust-funded Research Project ‘The Works of Robert Fergusson: Reconstructing Textual and Cultural Legacies’. It is supported by the Centre for Robert Burns Studies (CRBS), University of Glasgow.

BARS Conference 2024 Programme Announced!

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Dear BARS Members,

We’ve now released detailed schedules and panel listings for both the in person and online elements of ‘Romantic Making and Unmaking’ on the conference website:

A few small activities will be added a bit later (for example, we’re hoping to have short optional collections visits and musical performances during some of the 75-minute lunch breaks), but the published details should give you a good sense of the richness of the conference.

We’ve also recently added our conference logo to the site front page and published a list of places to eat and drink in Glasgow.  We’ll continue to send larger updates by email, but will be regularly updating the site in the run-up to the conference, so please check there for the latest information.

Conference registration remains open until July 5th – however, we would encourage you if possible to register as soon as you can – this will help us a great deal with arranging rooms, finalising catering and administering the New Lanark trip.  We’re very happy to welcome those not giving papers!

As always, if you have any questions, please just drop us an email (BARSConf2024@gmail.com).

Many thanks and best wishes,

The BARS 2024 Conference Committee

K-SAA Job Postings: Director of Operations and Communications and Communications Fellows

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Director of Operations and Communications

Job Description

Keats-Shelley Association of America

Honorarium: $10,000/year

Hours: 10 hours/week

  • Acts as administrative home for the organization: streamlines its internal communication; oversees administrative workflow for K-SAA officers; schedules and organizes officers meetings, directors meetings, and members meetings
  • Maintains and actively manages K-SAA calendar of meetings and events, including reminders to officers and directors of upcoming and urgent tasks
  • Keeps track of all projects, committee/working group reports and other Association documents
  • Oversees and monitors social media accounts (X/Instagram) and the K-SAA Blog 
  • Maintains an active flow of posts on these accounts (see activity expectations in Communication Fellows description)
  • Designs and delivers new media content (Blog series etc.), with the support of the Communications Fellows 
  • Strategizes how to increase engagement on social media and readership on the Blog 
  • Selects new Communications Fellows each year (with the assistance of the K-SAA Board), supervises them and hosts regular online team meetings 
  • Works with the K-SAA Secretary and VPs to circulate news of K-SAA events and projects over feeds
  • Responsible for timely organizing, adding, and updating website content (alongside Fellows)

Other Helpful Skills

  • High-touch alacrity with email and other forms of communication
  • Excited by ongoing organization and fast-paced communication with a wide variety of people inside and outside academia
  • Quick editor and nimble social media poster
  • Skilled with Squarespace, Venmo, and other web-based software
  • Thoughtful and adept with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts within higher education

Communications Fellows (x2)

Job Description

Keats-Shelley Association of America (K-SAA)

Stipend: $1000 

Hours: 5 hours/week

  • To set up regular content for our X feed and Blog (approximately 4 blog posts + 8 social media posts per month)
  • To update website content where necessary
  • To promote K-SAA calendar of meetings and events 
  • To develop our new Instagram feed and monitor its progress
  • To respond to enquiries on social media platforms
  • To design and curate blog posts, including soliciting authors from the academic community
  • To monitor the success of these endeavors and to research potential further developments
  • To attend regular online meetings with the Director of Communications
  • Desirable: individuals already active on X, who can be reactive and responsive to our audiences and current discourses in Romanticism
  • Aware of and adept in higher education’s attention to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion  

It is not a requirement that candidates be based in the United States. All candidates should, however, belong to the K-SAA or be willing to become a member. We are especially committed to a diverse Board and staff at K-SAA alongside equitable working conditions that put thoughtful inclusion at the center of our values. 

To Apply:

Please send a resume and a paragraph of interest to ksinger@mtholyoke.edu by May 24th. Brief interviews will be held the following week, with the positions to begin mid-June.

The Shelley Conference 2024: ‘Posthumous Poems, Posthumous Collaborations’

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The organisers of the 2024 Shelley Conference ‘Posthumous Poems, Posthumous Collaborations’ are pleased to share the conference programme and announce that registration is open. The Shelley Conference will be held at Keats House, London, from 28-29 June.

Programme:

We are pleased to share the Shelley Conference programme. You may view and download the programme on our website, here.

The programme includes a Plenary Panel, ‘Editing the Dead’, chaired by Bysshe Inigo Coffey and featuring Will Bowers, Nora Crook, Paul Hamilton, and Valentina Varinelli. The Keynote Lecture, ‘What is a Posthumous Poem?’, will be delivered by Ross Wilson. The conference will also feature a free exhibition of Shelley relics, including Keats House’s copy of Posthumous Poems.

Registration:

Registration is open; please register through the link on our website to secure your space: Registration – The Shelley Conference Registration will close on 13th June, or sooner if spaces sell out.

Registration Fees: £100 Full Fee / £40 Reduced Fee (available to ECR and PGR speakers only)

Registration is for both days of the conference (28-29 June) and includes refreshments, lunches, and wine receptions. There are two options available. The Reduced Fee is only available to PGRs and ECRs giving papers at the conference. If you are unsure which option to select, please contact us.

The Shelley Conference is an independent project organised by early career researchers and with support from Keats House Museum. 100% of your fee goes towards the running of the conference.

Travel and accommodation are not included in the registration fee so please book these separately. Accommodation recommendations are available here. 

Booking is also open for the pre-conference public lecture by Mark Sandy, ‘Waters on a Starry Night’: P.B. Shelley’s Poetic Reflections on Wordsworth, at Keats House on 27 June: Public Lecture – The Shelley Conference

We look forward to welcoming you to Keats House!

Shelley Conference Team

Symposium: ‘The Scottish Novel in 1824’, University of Edinburgh, 1st July 2024

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This one-day symposium marks the bicentenary of 1824, an ‘annus mirabilis’ in the history of Scottish fiction that saw the publication of two experimental masterpieces: James Hogg’s The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner and Walter Scott’s Redgauntlet. More generally, this was a moment of ascendancy for ‘Scotch novels’, with the instability wrought by the financial crash of 1825/6 yet to materialise, and with the Edinburgh milieu at the heart of anglophone literary culture.

The event features a keynote lecture from Professor Ian Duncan (University of California, Berkeley), and is hosted by Scottish Writing in the Nineteenth Century (SWINC) at the University of Edinburgh. There is also an optional special collections element hosted by EDITION and featuring material from the university Heritage Collections as well as Selkirk Museums.

There is an Eventbrite for signing up through this link: The Scottish Novel in 1824 | The University of Edinburgh

Contributors Needed: Year’s Work in English Studies – Romantic Poetry

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The Year’s Work in English Studies (published by Oxford UP and sponsored by the English Association) is searching for two contributors to cover Romantic poetry (1780-1830) for the upcoming edition (2023 publications). Reviewers are compensated and may keep the books sent for review. For more information, to express an interest, please contact Steven Lynn at lynns@sc.edu. 

Restored publications: Romantic Circles Electronic Editions

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We are happy to announce two restored Romantic Circles Electronic Editions. As shown by the return of these editions, the technical editors at Romantic Circles are hard at work not only producing new publications but also bringing back previous publications as they are able. We appreciate everyone’s patience after having to rebuild the site and are striving to make everyone’s valuable past publications accessible once more.

Terry Robinson’s updated edition of Mary Robinson’s Nobody: A Comedy in Two Acts (Drury Lane, 1794) is the first to present a widely available and searchable transcript of the play along with a comprehensive introduction, extensive notes by the editor, and contexts of the drama. The open-access format and the accompanying contextual materials make this edition ideal for teaching and research.

Nicholas Mason, Paul Westover, Shannon Stimpson, Billy M. Hall, and Jarom McDonald’s updated and revised edition of William Wordsworth’s Guide to the Lakes (1810-1835) contains such resources as a fully annotated, illustrated text of the 1835 edition as well as bibliographic, cartographic, and textual tools for studying the first five editions of the Guide. For this revised edition the editorial team significantly reworked, extended, and, in some cases, corrected the earlier account of the essay’s origins, composition, and initial publication. The most significant changes to the critical apparatus appear in the introduction, which incorporates several important findings, and a new appendix offering the most detailed study to date of the serial publication of Select Views (1810). The updated edition also features high-resolution scans of Wordsworth’s 1810 letterpress.