'No one has ever charged Blake with being too explicit'
- G.A. Rosso

Blake 'deliberately exercised the viewer's imagination; he did not deliberately frustrate it'
- J. Viscomi

Two of my favourite quotes about Blake

Poster with a painting of Vesuvius in eruption. Text: A Byron Society Lecture. Volcanic Gothic: From Lord Byron to Lord of the Rings Start Date & Time: 26/02/2026 5:30 pm. Location: Online. Speakers Dr Laura Eastlake.

I'm super excited to be chatting to The Byron Society about how volcanoes have shaped the Gothic and why Lord Byron was the ultimate 'Volcanic Gothic' celebrity. Featuring cameos from Jo March, Dracula & the Dark Lord Sauron!

📆 26/02/2026 5:30 pm. Online.
🎟️ www.thebyronsociety.com/events/volca...

The Box of Delights Blu-ray

It's that time of the year again! Cold December nights and 'The Box of Delights'.

#theboxofdelights

Dark Romanticism book jacket

Silvia Riccardi who wrote the fab bit.ly/DanteHayley in bit.ly/HayleyEssays has a new monograph out: Dark Romanticism: Literature, Art, and the Body. Check it out: buff.ly/zwJnsqw

Interested in #WilliamBlake? Read @jasonpaulwhittaker.bsky.social & @urthonaunbound.bsky.social’s: “‘Be My Enemy for Friendship’s Sake’: Hayley &
Blake’s Biographers” bit.ly/BME4FS in bit.ly/HayleyEssays #Blake #romanticism #lifewriting #biography #18thC #c18th

(vid: book opens to show chapter)

So true. 😂 But truly annoying.

Loved reading all the other chapters! What a thrilling book! So nice to recognise his importance! Finally!

Also, the highest chocolate prices of the early 2000s, with 2024 wrappers!

Interested in #WilliamBlake &/or biography? Read @jasonpaulwhittaker.bsky.social & @urthonaunbound.bsky.social’s: “‘Be My Enemy for Friendship’s Sake’: Hayley and
Blake’s Biographers” bit.ly/BME4FS in bit.ly/HayleyEssays #Blake #romanticism #lifewriting #biography #18thC #c18th

‘Be My Enemy for Friendship’s Sake’: Hayley and Blake’s Biographers Thus begins William Hayley’s three-volume biography of his friend, William Cowper. The tenderness and affection that Hayley expressed towards Cowper may come as something of a surprise to those ...

Interested in #WilliamBlake &/or biography? @jasonpaulwhittaker.bsky.social whittaker.bsky.social & @urthonaunbound.bsky.social’s: “‘Be My Enemy for Friendship’s Sake’: Hayley and
Blake’s Biographers” bit.ly/BME4FS in bit.ly/HayleyEssays #Blake #romanticism #lifewriting #biography #18thC #c18th

❤️ I have a deep appreciation for Hayley. The undeserving "villain" of so much Blake scholarship! Thanks @lis4g33.bsky.social!!!!!

Check out the new book on 'William Hayley' edited by Lisa Gee and Mark Crosby. Such an interesting and important book!

And not only because @jasonpaulwhittaker.bsky.social and I have a joint chapter on the role of Blake's biographers!

#williamblake #williamhayley #bookpost

First week with set reading so I'm breaking into the "To Read' pile. Was recommended Cormac McCarthy's 'Blood Meridian' a few weeks ago so starting with that!

The Blake Cottage Trust is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a £243,954‬ grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support essential conservation and‬ planning efforts for Blake’s Cottage, in Felpham, the historic Sussex home of visionary poet‬ and artist William Blake.

뉴토피아 (Newtopia) is a comedy series set within the parameters of a zombie apocalypse. So something new to me on multiple levels.

Trying something new. Watching Korean series 'Newtopia' with the subtitles (and no dubbing). It's the first Korean show I've seen and it is very interesting. I'll keep you posted

#TrySomethingNew #Newtopia #Subtitles

The Urizen Cycle - The Blake Society Annise Rogers discusses Blake's character Urizen, and and proposes 'The Urizen Cycle' as a way of understanding his mythological system.

THE URIZEN CYCLE, Wed 26 February, 7:30 PM (UK time) on zoom. Dr Annise Rogers discusses Blake's central character Urizen, and proposes 'the Urizen Cycle' as a new way of understanding his mythological system.
All are welcome. More info and free registration at blakesociety.org/product/uriz...

The Urizen Cycle - The Blake Society Annise Rogers discusses Blake's character Urizen, and and proposes 'The Urizen Cycle' as a way of understanding his mythological system.

On 26th Feb I will give a (free online) talk for @blakesociety.bsky.social in which I will re-examine the importance of Urizen in Blake's mythological structure.

For more details see: blakesociety.org/product/uriz...

Bookpost! After years of searching, I managed to grab this at an amazing bargain price! Such an important book when studying 'The Four Zoas'

'The Four Zoas' by William Blake A Photographic Facsimile of the Manuscript with Commentary on the Illuminations' by Tramontano Magno and Erdman!

#Blake

Just heard that my latest article has been published in Blake Quarterly - alongside exciting-looking contributions from @luisacale.bsky.social @urthonaunbound.bsky.social & Mark Crosby. I discuss artworks by Sokari Douglas Camp, Hew Locke, and Jazzmen-Lee Johnson

blakequarterly.org/index.php/bl...

Our Newsletter has gone out to all our subscribers. It includes info on the Spring/Summer 'In Conversation' series, our latest podcast and a brilliant review by @jodielmarley.bsky.social.

If you would like to subscribe to our monthly Newsletter please go to: globalblake.com/newsletter/

DEATHRIT Death, Ritual, & Cultural Politics in the Eighteenth Century

A long overdue release…

My research website is now live!

Subscribe, follow, lurk… My Instagram followers got first pick on the kinda content they want to see, but I’ll be releasing updates on my Marie Curie project, DEATHRIT + some fun things discovered in the archives!

deathrit.wordpress.com

In the Age of William Blake: Blake in Turin YouTube video by Zoavision

Just before Christmas, I had the immense pleasure of visiting the exhibition William Blake in his Age in Turin. You can see my video review of the exhibition at www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAy9...

Yeats, Blake and Mysticism Visionary: How William Blake Changed the World · Episode

Live today: the latest episode of Visionary with @jodielmarley.bsky.social on Yeats, Blake and mysticism is now available via Spotify, Amazon and Apple, or on the @globalblake.bsky.social web site, globalblake.com/podcasts/.

Listen now at open.spotify.com/episode/3iIi...

my podcast episode with @jasonpaulwhittaker.bsky.social & @globalblake.bsky.social on Blake and Yeats is out now! Link below for a fantastic conversation 🌠

we covered Yeats' Blake edition, the "Irish Blake" myth, Blake & the occult, both authors' use of systems, Blakean Yeats poems, & so much more

My morning:

6.30 - torrential rain (got absolutely soaked).

7.30 - blizzard.

William Blake's 'The Fly'

Please join us this upcoming Monday (2 December), for a talk by William Rubel who will consider some of the many readings of Blake's 'The Fly'.

The talk is FREE via Zoom and starts at 7pm UK time. You can find details, including a registration link, at:

globalblake.com/events/

#Blake's birthday: lingering on this plate, a single-leaf design originally produced for TheBookOfThel, reprinted without the text, given a new leaf of life with a new emblematic caption, 'Does God take care of these', an existential line that prompts Songs of Experience. @blakesociety.bsky.social

Happy birthday William Blake!
Today we release issue 5 of VALA, the Journal of the Blake Society, based around the not inconsiderable subject of 'God'. You can download if for free from our website blakesociety.org/vala/

Happy birthday to William Blake! 267 years today!

For your enjoyment, one of my favourite Blake quotes:
'Thou little diminutive portion that darst be a counterpart'